LAPD identifies suspect in murder of UCLA design student Brianna Kupfer

Los Angeles police have identified a suspect in the fatal stabbing of Brianna Kupfer, a 24-year-old UCLA design student who was working at a luxury furniture store when she was shot and killed.

Police are offering a $250,000 reward for information leading to the whereabouts of the suspected shooter, Shawn Laval Smith, 31, whom the police say should be considered armed and dangerous.

Los Angeles County records show that Smith has a criminal record and was free on a $1,000 bail from an October 2020 misdemeanor. Per the Daily Mail, it is not immediately clear what the nature of his charge is, or why the case remained unresolved.

Smith is also currently free on a $50,000 bond in Charleston, South Carolina in relation to a November 2019 arrest on suspicion of firing a weapon into an occupied vehicle, according to court records. As detailed by the publication, an indictment in that case was given on March 16, 2020, shortly before COVID-19 paralyzed the courts. No further action was taken.

Smith allegedly walked into the store and stabbed to death the 24-year-old design student last week at the Croft House furniture store in Hancock Part, where she worked. The neighborhood is described as “upscale” and was considered relatively safe in contrast to other parts of the city.

Moments before she was stabbed, Kupfer texted a friend to say that a customer was making her feel uncomfortable.

"She sent a text to a friend letting her know that there was someone inside the location that was giving her a bad vibe," LAPD Lt. John Radtke said of the Jan. 13 murder. "Regrettably, that person did not see the text immediately."

Police say that the assailant was spotted in numerous locations throughout SoCal, including Pasadena, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Covina, and San Diego, and included a mugshot of Smith wearing a face mask.

Security footage from a 7-Eleven at Beverly and Wilshire boulevards allegedly recorded Smith, who was wearing an N95 mask, half an hour after the Kupfer’s murder.

In an interview with Fox News, Brianna’s father, Todd Kupfer, blamed politicians for his daughter’s murder.

“Crime is truly spiking, and we have a lot of criminals on the streets that shouldn’t be out,” Kupfer said. “We have a lot of politicians that somehow forgot about people and think the key to getting elected is to support the lowest rung of our society and to give them rights and somehow that’s the answer to getting votes.”