1 killed in shooting at Mall of America

One person was killed after a shooter opened fire at the Mall of America in Minnesota on Friday evening, sending the largest mall in the country into lockdown.

Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges said at a press conference on Friday that an officer heard what they believed were gunshots at around 7:50 p.m. Central Standard Time (CST). He said the noise came from a Nordstrom’s on the mall’s first floor.

Hodges said the officer called the incident in and went into the store, finding a 19-year-old male who had been shot multiple times. The officer tried to perform “life-saving measures,” but they were unsuccessful.

The victim was a local resident but not from Bloomington, a suburb of Minneapolis and St. Paul where the Mall of America is located.

Hodges said the jacket of a female bystander was also grazed.

Hodges said video shows that an altercation between “two groups” appears to have occurred, and it included between five and nine people. He said one of the males involved appears to have taken out a firearm and shot the victim.

He said police do not know why the altercation happened.

Hodges said police are in the process of identifying suspects. He said five to seven people ran out of the store after the shooting but police do not know how many of them are potential suspects.

“I’m confident that we’re going to catch these people, and we’re going to lock them up,” he said.

“If anybody helps these people – I mean so much as buy them a Happy Meal, give them a ride – we’re going to lock you up with them,” he added.

Hodges called on those responsible to turn themselves in.

“People have been through enough loss and tragedy,” he said.

Mall of America’s Twitter account posted soon after the initial report of the shooting that those inside should remain in the closest secure location until the lockdown was lifted. It later posted that the lockdown was being lifted, but guests should exit as the mall would remain closed for the evening. 

The police tweeted that the department was working with the mall’s security and the Hennepin County Crime Lab to process the area, which had been secured.

Hodges said the mall is continually evaluating its security measures, including whether metal detectors would be best for this type of facility.

The Associated Press reported that the mall bans guns on its premises but does not have metal detectors at its entrances.

Hodges said police would support increasing security measures that improve safety, but if someone has “blatant disrespect for humanity, I don’t know what we can do to stop some of these people.” He said 16 officers were in the mall already at the time of the shooting, but “they still decided to do this.”

The mall was previously placed on lockdown in August after a shooting happened there. Police later arrested two men, but no one was killed or injured during the incident.

— Updated Dec. 24 at 7:39 a.m.