Los Angeles police have identified a suspect in the murder of a store employee Thursday in the city's Hancock Park neighborhood.
Shawn Laval Smith, 31, is considered "armed and dangerous," the Los Angeles Police Department said in a tweet, warning people to call 911 instead of contacting him.
According to the wanted poster, Smith has lived in Pasadena, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Covina, San Diego, San Francisco and several other locations around Southern California.
Los Angeles police have identified Sean Laval Smith as a suspect in the death of a store employee in the city's Hancock Park area.
Police urged residents to pay special attention to bus stops and train platforms as "they are using public transport."
Officials and the community are offering a $250,000 reward in the case.
The LAPD said Tuesday that 24-year-old Brianna Kupfer was stabbed before her assailant fled the back alley of the store last Thursday afternoon.
Just after 1:30 p.m., Kupfer, who was working alone in the shop, sent a message to a friend that someone was "giving him a bad mood," LAPD Lieutenant John Radke said at a news conference. The person receiving the text didn't see it right away, he said.
A customer entered the store about 15 minutes later and found Kupfer "on the ground, lifeless, covered in blood," Radke said.
The LAPD said the attacker did not know the victim and had suddenly come to the shop. Police did not disclose the name of the store, but said it was located in the 300 block of North La Brea Avenue.
The university said the victim, from Pacific Palisades, was enrolled in extension courses at UCLA.
"Brianna was a smart, funny and kind soul who only wanted to better herself and her community on a daily basis," her family said in a statement read by a member of the city council at the news conference. "While she can be shy at times, she lights up any of her rooms and makes an effort to meet everyone she meets so they can be better versions of themselves."
Her father, Todd Kupfer, told Fox News he didn't know why she was in the store alone.
He said that Brianna was curious about the world and was competitive with her three siblings. "She was a great role model, she was very, very caring," her father said.
"I'm so proud of what she's achieved and where she's going."
City Council member Paul Koretz said the city expected a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and trial of the suspect, and that people from the Westside community have donated more than $200,000 to the information.
"The random and senseless murder of Brian Kupfer has shocked our community," Koretz said. “We will find this vicious criminal, we will arrest him and we will prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law,” he promised.
An "intensive investigation" is underway "and will continue until this person is identified and brought to the criminal justice system," said LAPD chief Michelle Moore.
"I commit to you that investigatively, we are eliminating every stop," Moore said.