GUNFIGHT AT MALL POLICE KILL JEWEL HEIST SUSPECT, HUNT MORE.

Byline: Holly Edwards and Beth Barrett Staff Writers

WOODLAND HILLS - Armed men attempted a brazen holdup at Macy's department store in the Westfield Shoppingtown Promenade mall Sunday afternoon, terrifying hundreds of shoppers and leading to a shootout that left one robber dead.

Shoppers were trapped in the mall as dozens of police formed a perimeter around the mall and methodically went through stores, stock rooms and other hiding places fearing hostages might have been taken.

About 5:15 p.m., the robbers attempted to hold up the jewelry counter. An alarm brought Los Angeles Police Department officers, who shot and killed one of the robbers. Police weren't sure if they were looking for one or two others who fled the scene.

Shoppers ran for their lives and dodged flying debris as gunfire was exchanged. As the suspects fled, shoppers huddled in offices and storage areas.

By late evening, police said cell phone calls from some people trapped in the mall led police to worry about a potential hostage situation. Squadrons of police searched hiding places late into the night but had yet to find the suspects or confirm hostages were taken.

Investigators found a handgun in a mall parking lot, which they believe was left behind by a fleeing suspect.

SWAT operatives stood at each mall door with guns drawn, while groups of the special weapons team searched the mall and escorted people from their hiding places to safety.

A gunbattle erupted about five minutes after the alarm, when the first two responding officers discovered the suspects emptying the jewelry counter, said LAPD spokesman Sgt. John Pasquariello.

Pasquariello called it ``a brazen armed robbery.''

Witnesses said the robbers argued with store employees before drawing their weapons, at one point grabbing an employee by the throat when he tried to resist the robbery attempt.

``I saw the tip of the guns and a guy with his hands up,'' said a Macy's employee who did not want to give her name. ``Then I saw one of the robbers choking an employee, and right after that I heard gunshots.''

Family members of those trapped inside the mall waited anxiously in the parking lot until they could be sure their loved ones were safe.

Megan Stankevich, 19, of Woodland Hills, a Macy's employee, said she was in a dressing room when she heard three shots ring out. Security guards then ushered employees and shoppers into offices and storage areas, where they remained until police officers arrived, she said.

``There were about 20 or 30 of us in there. One woman and child cried, and everyone else prayed,'' said Stankevich, still shaking from the ordeal. ``It was the scariest thing that ever happened to me.''

While some people scrambled into hiding, hundreds of other shoppers fled through the nearest door as soon as gunfire erupted.

``I was on the second floor looking at a pair of pants when I heard four or five shots,'' said Susan Davison of Van Nuys. ``I ran out the back door and heard four or five more shots.''

Susan Carter of Encino was near the jewelry counter when the robbery occurred. She said she heard a loud argument and then saw one of the robbers jump over the counter and begin to punch one of the employees.

``At that point I knew it was more than an argument,'' she said. ``Then I heard a gunshot and ran out of the store.''

One man, who asked not to be identified, was just about to walk into the store ``when I heard 'boom' and all hell broke loose.''

``I don't know why anyone would want to do this on a Sunday afternoon, especially after what the country has just been through,'' he said.

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Police guard the entrance to the Macy's in Woodland Hills, where jewelry robbers exchanged gunfire with officers Sunday.

(2) Amber Malmarowski talks to her friend Sammy Escobar, who was trapped inside Macy's during Sunday's robbery.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News

(3 -- 4 -- color) LAPD officers mobilize, above, to contain an armed robbery Sunday at the Westfield Shoppingtown Promenade mall. At left, people embrace after finding each other safely outside the Macy's store where the robbers had attempted to loot the jewelry counter. Police managed to escort many to safety, but some apparently remained inside into the night as the search for two suspects continued.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News

John McCoy/Staff Photographer

(5) A SWAT team member checks his firearm before entering the mall gunmen had tried to rob.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer