Fatal Double Stabbing At Macys In Center City

PHILADELPHIA, PA — One person is dead and another wounded in a fatal double stabbing at the Macy's department store in Center City Philadelphia Monday morning, according to police.

The incident began to unfold around 10:45 a.m. after a security guard stopped a man from stealing several hats at the store, Interim Philadelphia Police Commissioner John Stanford said at a news conference.

The man left after security retrieved the items but came back around 15 minutes later and stabbed one of the guards with a knife, police said. When another guard intervened, they were stabbed as well.

A suspect was arrested at SEPTA's Somerset Station in Kensington, according to Stanford.

At the time of the news conference, Stanford said both security guards who had been stabbed, one fatally, were in their 20s. NBC10 reported that the first security guard to respond to the attempted theft was 30 years old and died at the hospital, while the guard who later intervened is 23 years old and his condition is not yet known.

"These security officers are just doing their job," Stanford said. "They're here to make sure that people can come to this location and shop in a safe manner, and for something like this to happen on a Monday morning during the holiday season — or any time of the year for that matter — just another indication that every bit of crime is important in this city ... This started as a retail theft, upgraded to a robbery, and ultimately to a homicide. It's just a tragic situation."

A previous version of this story cited reports that three were stabbed. Two people were stabbed, according to the most recent information available.