A 24-year-old graduate student was stabbed to death Thursday in what authorities believe to be a “random” attack while working at a high-end furniture store in Los Angeles, California.
Brianna Kupfer, a UCLA graduate student studying architectural design, was found deceased on the floor of Croft House by a customer, who walked in the store around 20 minutes after the murder and reported the discovery to police, according to KTTV.
The police officers responded to the call at around 1:50 p.m. and arrived on scene, where they met with the reporting customer. Los Angeles Police Department’s (LAPD) detectives characterized the killing as a “random walk in” attack, determining that the suspect and the victim did not know each other, according to the LAPD press release.
Police identified the victim as 24-year-old Brianna Kupfer. According to LAPD, the man who killed her left out the back door up through the alley toward Oakwood Avenue and La Brea Avenue. https://t.co/sxaRMjMOqx pic.twitter.com/FSsckzIQ0S
— Rick Montanez (@RickCBSLA) January 14, 2022
The suspect, who was described only as a “male Black, unknown age, tall, thin, wearing a dark hoody, sunglasses, a white N-95 mask, dark skinny jeans, dark shoes and carrying a dark back pack,” carried out the deadly assault with a knife and fled the store through the back door, the press release read. (RELATED: ‘Never Seen Anything Like It’: LA Residents Rattled As Violent Crime Finally Seeps Into Wealthy Neighborhoods)
“Based on evidence discovered by detectives, the suspect is believed to be homeless,” LAPD wrote, asking anyone with information on the suspect to contact West Bureau Homicide investigators at (213) 382-9470.
Kupfer’s father described his deceased daughter as a gifted artist and listener who he said was “loved by all,” according to KCAL-TV.