Two suspects arrested over 7-Eleven shootings in LA that left two dead

Police had been seeking a gunman suspected of robbing six convenience stores

Two men have been arrested in connection with a series of robberies at 7-Elevens in Southern California that left two people dead and three more wounded.

Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer and the police chiefs of Brea, Santa Ana, La Habra, and Riverside gathered for a press conference later on Friday evening to discuss the arrests of 20-year-old Malik Patt and 44-year-old Jason Payne, who Mr Spitzer said perpetrated a “reign of terror” in the region.

Both Mr Patt and Mr Payne live in the Los Angeles area, and law enforcement suggested on Friday that they could face further charges for other crimes committed in the region this week.

Police in the area had been attempting to locate a gunman who was the suspect in six robberies. It is not presently known whether that person has been arrested or who the second person arrested is.

The robberies all took place on 11 July – or 7/11, the company’s anniversary – in Brea, Santa Ana, Ontario, Upland, Riverside and La Habra over a five hour period.

Police in a number of the affected municipalities said in the aftermath of the attack that they believe all the robberies were perpetrated by the same person. It is not yet known what the motivation for the attacks was or whether the date had any particular significance.

In this image from a 7-Eleven store in Upland, California released by the Upland Police Department is a person police are attempting to identify in connection with two people who were killed and three who were wounded in shootings at four 7-Eleven locations (AP)

The worst of the violence came in Brea, where 40-year-old clerk Matthew Hirsch was shot and killed, and Santa Ana, where 24-year-old Matthew Rule was killed in the store’s parking lot.

A customer was also shot in the head during the robbery at the Riverside location, while two people were shot during the robbery in La Habra.

The string of attacks caused such alarm that 7-Eleven’s parent company asked stores in the Los Angeles area to consider closing early that night.

This undated photo provided by the Santa Ana police department shows Matthew Rule, 24, who was fatally shot on 11 July during a robbery at a 7-Eleven parking lot in Santa Ana (AP)

The investigation into the attacks, spanning multiple jurisdictions, has been ongoing all week.

On Wednesday, 7-Eleven offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case, though it is not clear whether the arrests made on Friday have any connection with the prize money on offer.