“Our hearts go out to the victims and their loved ones, and our focus continues to be on franchisees, associates and customer safety,” a 7-Eleven spokesperson told CNN on Tuesday. “With this in mind, we encourage stores in the Los Angeles area to close again tonight.” The robberies unfolded early Monday morning at stores in Santa Ana, La Habra, Brea, Riverside, Upland and Ontario, California, police said. Police in Brea and La Habra are “confident” the shootings in their jurisdictions are connected, saying they are in communication with other agencies. A store clerk at a 7-Eleven in Brea has died after being shot, the police department said Monday. Another person was killed at the 7-Eleven location in Santa Ana, a police spokesman told CNN. “Based on the photo that was released we believe he is the same suspect,” the spokesman said. Two other people were shot during the robbery at the La Habra location and taken to the hospital, police said during a news conference. Meanwhile, a 7-Eleven customer was shot when a gunman entered the store in Riverside, “pointed a firearm and robbed the clerk,” a police spokesman said. That victim was taken to a local hospital, where he was listed in “serious condition.” “Our hearts go out to the victims and their loved ones. We are gathering information about this terrible tragedy and working with local law enforcement,” 7-Eleven said in a statement Monday. In Upland, police said no shots were fired and no one was injured during the 7-Eleven robbery. And in Ontario, California, the gunman demanded money while pointing a gun and did not fire his weapon. CNN’s Amanda Musa and Stella Chan contributed to this report.
