Target evacuation follows random attack at Simi Valley store
A checkout assault at a Simi Valley Target triggered an evacuation after a loss-prevention officer and shoppers stepped in to stop the attack.
Target employees evacuated the Simi Valley store at 51 Tierra Rejada Road after Rejean Morgan Tabor choked a woman at a checkout counter around 6 p.m. on June 17. The confrontation quickly spread into a wider emergency response as bystanders moved in to stop the attack.
Investigators later said the woman did not know Tabor. A Target loss-prevention officer and several customers intervened, and Tabor attacked some of the people trying to help. Officers later found him in the grocery section, where he was throwing items, and arrested him without further incident. The first victim was taken by family to a local hospital and was in stable condition. Several other customers, including a minor, suffered minor injuries and were treated and released at the scene. Video of the confrontation circulated widely, and a teenager who filmed part of it said his father was among the people who stepped in.
On June 23, Ventura County prosecutors charged Tabor, 34, with felony willful, deliberate, premeditated attempted murder and additional misdemeanor counts tied to four other alleged victims. The charging documents accuse him of covering the woman’s mouth and nose while strangling her, pushing one woman to the ground, biting and scratching another person, throwing a glass bottle at a loss-prevention employee and attacking a 16-year-old from behind.
Tabor remained in Ventura County jail on $750,000 bail after his first appearance in Ventura County Superior Court. His defense raised doubts about his competency, and the proceedings were paused pending evaluation. A competency hearing was scheduled for July 16, 2026.
The attack happened less than 24 hours after Tabor was released from custody on mandatory supervision, following sentences in two separate Ventura County cases. Local records tie those prior cases to a misdemeanor lewd conduct conviction and a felony violence-against-an-officer conviction, along with earlier Ventura County charges dating to 2017 that included DUI, attempted burglary, aggravated trespass and resisting a peace officer.
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