fatally stabbing a 24-year-old UCLA graduate student Brianna Kupfer by 31-year-old Shawn Laval Smith

CBS News
UCLA student killed at L.A. furniture store texted about "a bad vibe"
CBSNews
Wed, January 19, 2022, 5:30 AM

Los Angeles officials are offering a #250,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a man suspected of fatally stabbing a 24-year-old UCLA graduate student while she worked alone at a furniture store. Brianna Kupfer was found dead on the floor of the store by a customer on Thursday not long after she had sent an ominous text message to a friend, police said.

Police say Kupfer was the only employee at Croft House on La Brea Avenue when someone came into the store last Thursday afternoon and fatally stabbed her. CBS Los Angeles reports that on Tuesday night, police identified the suspect as 31-year-old Shawn Laval Smith. He is still at large and is considered armed and dangerous.

Man accused of killing UCLA student at L.A. furniture store arrested, police announce

Updated on: January 19, 2022 / 4:01 PM / CBS News

The man suspected of fatally stabbing a 24-year-old UCLA graduate student while she worked alone at a furniture store last week has been arrested. Shawn Laval Smith, 31, was taken into custody just before 12 p.m. local time Wednesday, the Los Angeles Police Department tweeted.

Authorities found Smith in the area of Fair Oaks and Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, the LAPD wrote.

Last Thursday, Brianna Kupfer was found dead on the floor of the store by a customer not long after she had sent an ominous text message to a friend, police said.


Police say Kupfer was the only employee at Croft House on La Brea Avenue when someone came into the store that afternoon and fatally stabbed her. CBS Los Angeles reports that on Tuesday night, police identified the suspect as Smith. They said he was considered armed and dangerous, and Los Angeles officials offered a $250,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.