Security guard is knifed to death and another is injured after suspect tried to steal HATS from Macy’s in crime-ridden Philly: Killer arrested fleeing scene

A security guard was stabbed to death after confronting a shoplifter at a Macy's store directly across from City Hall in Philadelphia, according to police.

A suspect has been arrested in connection with the stabbing, which happened around 11 a.m. Monday at the store's entrance on Market Street near 13th Street.

Police said the suspect had tried to steal hats before the stabbing, but returned the items and left the store without incident after security guards confronted him.

However, the man returned ten minutes later and approached the guard, a black 30-year-old man, before fatally stabbing him in the neck.

Another guard, a black 23-year-old man, was also stabbed in the face and arm when he tried to intervene, but he is in stable condition.

A security guard has been stabbed to death in an attack at a Macy's store directly across from City Hall in Philadelphia

As of 12:00 PM EST, a heavy police presence remains outside the Center City department store

Both security guards have still not been identified by police, who said one has been employed for years, while the other has only worked at the store for a few months, police said.

The suspect was arrested by SEPTA's Summerset station in the Kensington neighborhood after fleeing the scene on public transportation and throwing the knife onto the train tracks.

“Just a tragic situation, a few weeks before the holidays these security officers are just doing their job, they are here to make sure people can come to this location to shop in a safe manner,” said Interim Police Chief John Stanford . .

Stanford added that the security guards were not armed — and that more than 250 cases of shoplifting have occurred at the Macy's location this year.

It comes as the nation's sixth-largest city is plagued by violent crime, with a record number of homicides in 2021, most of them gun-related.

That number dropped from 562 to 516 in 2022, but was still higher than pre-pandemic levels.

Congressman Troy Nehls of Texas responded to the stabbing, writing on X: “Three loss prevention workers at a Macy's in Philadelphia were just stabbed. Right opposite the town hall. Democrat-run cities are not safe.”

Philadelphia has been plagued by crime in recent months, with brutal reports of theft and looting.

Shocking footage from the City of Brotherly Love shows Fine Wine and Good Spirits being beaten up during a flash robbery in September.

The animals made off with the safe and raided the lottery machine on a night when liquor stores were closed by authorities.

Police said they had made at least 52 arrests. At least 30 people, all but three of whom were adults, have been charged with burglary, theft and other charges, according to Jane Roh, spokesperson for the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office.

Philadelphia residents denounced a recent wave of violent crimes that has left more than 750 people shot since late May, after a series of high-profile incidents rocked the crime-ridden city.

Democratic Mayor Cherelle Parker, 51, has her work cut out for her in the crime-ridden city. She was elected after promising to tackle crime by supporting stop-and-frisk tactics.

Parker emerged from a crowded field in the May party primaries as the only leading black candidate, and was heavily favored over Republican David Oh in the Democratic stronghold city.

She is also the first Black woman to hold the post after building her campaign on a promise to make Philadelphia the “safest, cleanest and greenest big city” in the country.

Parker has also been more outspoken in her support for law enforcement than other Democrats in the City of Brotherly Love, including a desire to implement stop-and-frisk for officers.