Two security guards at a downtown Los Angeles shopping plaza were wounded in a gunfight with a man as they tried to stop him from making off with more than $1,000 of stolen merchandise, police said Tuesday.

The guards confronted the man as he left a Target store at the FIGat7th outdoor shopping mall Monday night. The suspect fired at least five rounds and one of the guards fired as well, Los Angeles Police Capt. Raul Jovel said in a news conference. The man fled and police were still searching for him.

“We’re really lucky nobody got killed in this incident,” Jovel said. He added of the suspect: “We know he’s violent and we know he’s armed.”

The shooting ends a year in which California voters showcased their frustration with retail theft and other crime amid a perception it’s been allowed to go unchecked. A ballot measure making shoplifting a felony for repeat offenders passed easily, rolling back a law passed by voters a decade ago that downgraded theft under $950 to a misdemeanor. A lack of local data makes it hard to quantify how bad the problem is, but viral videos earlier this year showed hordes of people running into major retail stores and shoplifting in mass. Voters also ousted several progressive district attorneys.