Two shot and wounded at Mall of America
Two people were shot and wounded following an apparent altercation at the Mall of America Friday night, sending shoppers scrambling for safety and placing the mall in a temporary lockdown.
One man suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and another was grazed at 5 p.m. while on the third floor of the mall, police said. Shoppers ran for cover and the mall was evacuated until the lockdown ended after about 45 minutes, a mall official said during a news briefing. The suspect fled the scene, according to police.
Deputy Bloomington Police Chief Kim Clauson said police were working on the third floor when an officer heard a gunshot, with police and mall security arriving within a minute. The man shot in the leg was taken to taken by ambulance by Allina paramedics, while a second victim, who was grazed, was treated at the scene and released.
No arrests have been made, and the suspect is believed to have fled the mall. Clauson said the shooting did not appear to be random.
"It does appear there was an altercation between two males before the shot was fired," Clauson said.
Metro Transit temporarily suspended its Blue Line light rail service to the mall during the incident. By 5:45 p.m., the light rail was running to the mall again.
A video on social media showed emergency personnel gathered around one of the victims on the third floor near the Sears corridor. Another video shows medics leading a wounded man away on a stretcher. The man appeared to be conscious. Another posted to social media showed a large group fleeing the mall. Soon after the gunfire, an announcement boomed throughout the mall repeated that anyone not in a secure location should seek shelter immediately.
Alexis Gonzalez, who works at the Windsor clothing store on the second level, said that the mall had been busy all day and teenagers had "been running around all the time, so when we heard the shot and heard the screams we all got frazzled."
After a couple of minutes, Gonzalez continued, "we started seeing from out our store window that people were upstairs running. That's when a girl came in our store saying someone got shot, and that's when the mall lockdown alarms started, and people started rushing into our store."
"People were running trying to get into stores, and you could see mall security rushing over to the north side on the third level where the old Sears was located," Gonzalez said.
The Mall of America bans guns on its premises, according to its website. However, there are no metal detectors and shoppers are not searched upon entry. Mall spokesperson Dan Jasper said lockdown drills are performed each month to prepare for shooting scenarios.
This is a developing story. Come back for updates.
