You walk into a local Target store on a warm Wednesday evening to pick up a few everyday items. It is 6 p.m. on June 17, 2026. The aisles are filled with families, children, and regular shoppers. Then, without a single word or warning, total chaos erupts. A man grabs a woman from behind in the checkout line and starts strangling her, shutting off her ability to breathe by covering her nose and mouth.
This nightmare played out exactly that way at the Target on Tierra Rejada Road in Simi Valley, California. The random assault only stopped because ordinary citizens decided they were not going to watch a stranger die.
But while the internet focuses entirely on the shocking cellphone video of the brawl, the real story here is much worse. The suspect, 34-year-old Rejean Morgan Tabor, should not have been in that store at all. He had been released from police custody on mandatory supervision less than 24 hours before the attack.
Inside the Tierra Rejada Road Terror
The suddenness of random public violence is something most people fail to grasp until they see it. Eyewitnesses inside the Simi Valley Target described a scene that shifted from a standard retail environment to a life-or-death struggle in seconds.
Tabor reportedly entered the store and targeted a female shopper completely at random. He did not try to rob her. He did not exchange words with her. He simply approached her from behind, wrapped his arms around her neck, and began choking her while sealing her mouth and nose with his hand.
The victim began losing consciousness. Bystanders later noted that she appeared near death as the pressure intensified.
When people realized what was happening, the response was split. Target employees immediately began executing emergency protocols, working quickly to evacuate frightened families out of the building. But a few customers realized that if they waited for the police to arrive, the woman on the floor would not survive.
The Good Samaritans Who Refused to Stand By
The attack would have ended in a homicide if not for a handful of citizens who chose to physically intervene. Cellphone footage captured the violent confrontation as shoppers rushed the attacker.
One woman ran directly toward Tabor, attempting to rip his hands away from the victim's throat. Tabor didn't let go easily. Instead, he slammed the woman to the ground.
That is when other male shoppers threw themselves into the fight. A customer named Andy Garbe was in the store with his 15-year-old son, Grant, and his 4-year-old daughter. When Garbe saw the woman turning blue and another shopper failing to break the hold, he did not hesitate.
Garbe rushed forward and engaged Tabor directly. His son Grant kept his young sister safe while pulling out his phone to record the incident, providing crucial evidence for the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
The struggle was incredibly raw. Tabor fought like a man possessed. Witnesses later recounted that his eyes were completely bloodshot, wild, and vacant, suggesting he was experiencing a severe mental health crisis or was heavily under the influence of narcotics. During the melee to free the choking victim, Tabor bit, scratched, and struck the customers who were trying to hold him down.
Once the primary victim was pulled free and hurried away to safety by family friends, Tabor still did not stop. He broke away from the initial group and threw a glass bottle at a Target loss prevention employee. Then, he lunged into the grocery section of the store.
A 16-year-old boy was standing in the aisle with his back turned, completely unaware of the violence occurring just yards away. Tabor attacked the teenager from behind. Seeing this, Andy Garbe pursued Tabor into the grocery aisle, tackled him to the ground again, and fought him off until Simi Valley police officers flooded the building and took the suspect into custody without further incident.
The Massive Failure of the 24 Hour Release Window
The aspect of this case that makes local residents furious is the timeline leading up to the violence.
Tabor had just completed serving his sentence for two entirely separate criminal cases in Ventura County. According to court records, his past legal issues included arrests for indecent exposure and assaulting a police officer as recently as March. Yet, because of state guidelines and mandatory supervision structures, he was processed out of custody.
He was a free man for less than a single day.
This brings up an ugly truth about how the state handles individuals with a clear history of violence and instability. Mandatory supervision is designed to help transition individuals back into the community by providing monitoring rather than keeping them behind bars. In theory, it keeps jail populations down and offers a path to rehabilitation. In practice, it frequently drops ticking time bombs right back into public spaces without real-world stabilization.
When a person goes from a jail cell to choking a random woman in a suburban Target within a 24-hour window, the system has completely broken down. It proves that the evaluations used to determine whether an inmate is safe to walk the streets are fundamentally flawed. Tabor was clearly in no condition to be unsupervised.
The Legal Charges and the Competency Halt
Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko acted quickly following the arrest. On Monday, June 22, 2026, prosecutors officially slammed Tabor with a long list of severe charges.
The case is being handled by Deputy District Attorney Sean Brunton of the General Trials Unit. The primary charge is felony willful, deliberate, and premeditated attempted murder for the strangulation of the first shopper.
Because Tabor went on to assault almost everyone who tried to stop him, he is also facing charges for his actions against four additional victims. The specific breakdown includes:
- One count of felony attempted murder for the initial strangulation hold.
- Two counts of misdemeanor battery for the physical attacks on the shoppers who intervened.
- One count of misdemeanor assault for his actions against store staff.
- One count of misdemeanor child abuse for inflicting physical injury on the 16-year-old customer.
Tabor made his very first appearance in court on Monday. However, if you are expecting a swift trial, you are going to be disappointed. The typical legal maneuvering has already begun.
During the initial hearing, Tabor did not enter a plea. His defense attorney immediately stood up and declared a formal doubt regarding Tabor's mental competency to stand trial. Under California law, when a defense attorney raises this specific issue, criminal proceedings must be put on ice.
The court cannot try a defendant who does not understand the charges against them or cannot assist in their own defense. As a result, the judge suspended the criminal case and ordered a formal competency hearing, which is currently scheduled for July 16, 2026.
For now, Tabor is being held behind bars. The judge set his bail at $750,000. Given his immediate threat to the community and his zero-day recidivism track record, it is highly unlikely he will see the outside of a cell before his medical evaluations are complete. The primary victim was transported to a local hospital immediately after the incident and has since been listed in stable condition, though the psychological trauma of the event will likely last a lifetime.
How to Handle Sudden Public Violence Without Becoming a Victim
The Simi Valley Target incident serves as a brutal reminder that you cannot control when or where an emergency occurs. You can only control how prepared you are to handle it. While the shoppers in this scenario are being rightfully praised as heroes, getting involved in a physical altercation with a violent person is incredibly dangerous.
If you ever find yourself inside a business when an active assault breaks out, you need to make fast, calculated decisions based on situational realities.
Keep Your Eyes Up and Earbuds Out
The 16-year-old customer in the grocery aisle was targeted simply because he was completely unaware of his surroundings. He had his back turned to an active, violent threat. When you are out in public, avoid looking down at your phone constantly. If you wear headphones, keep the volume low enough to hear ambient noise, or leave one ear free. Recognizing a commotion three seconds earlier gives you the time you need to run or prepare.
Understand the Fight or Flight Reality
If someone is being actively harmed and you choose to intervene, you must accept the immediate physical risk. Violent individuals often possess functional strength fueled by adrenaline or substances that makes pain compliance useless. If you decide to step in, do not do it alone. The good Samaritans in Target succeeded because they swarmed the attacker with numbers, eventually overwhelming him.
Create Distance When Possible
Unless someone's life is immediately ending right in front of you, your default move should always be rapid evacuation. Run out of the store, leave your shopping cart behind, and get to a safe exterior location before calling 911. Do not linger to film videos unless you are already completely safe and out of harm's way.
The immediate next steps for the community involve tracking the July 16 competency hearing to ensure Tabor does not slip through the cracks of the mental health diversion system. Locally, residents should use this event to audit their own personal safety habits when running daily errands.
