Lockdown lifted after shots fired at Mall of America

Videos posted on social media and obtained by Alpha News appear to show three gunshots being fired inside a Nike store. 

By
Anthony Gockowski
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Screenshot from a video posted online that appears to show one of the suspects entering a Nike store before firing a gun. (Twitter)

The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., was placed on lockdown Thursday afternoon after what police described as an “active incident” on the northwest side of the mall.

Police later confirmed that shots were fired inside the mall.

Videos posted on social media and obtained by Alpha News appear to show three gunshots being fired inside a Nike store.

“Mall of America is currently under lockdown. There is a confirmed isolated incident in a tenant space. Please remain in the closest secure location until the lockdown has been lifted,” the mall said on social media.

According to Crime Watch Minneapolis, the report of shots fired came in around 4:30 p.m. Police tracked a blood trail through the mall and out to a parking ramp, Crime Watch reported. The incident reportedly stemmed from a fight, Crime Watch said.

Other videos posted online show shoppers running from the scene as police carry rifles through the mall.

Police told Alpha News around 5:40 p.m. that the scene had been secured and the mall was in the process of lifting the lockdown. Witnesses were being interviewed and no victim had been located.

Police said the mall will be closed for the evening.

They said the suspect fled the mall on foot. No information has been released about any arrests. The two main suspects were described as a black male in a white tanktop with a black male in an orange T-shirt, according to Crime Watch.

A large police presence was seen outside a hotel near the mall where the suspects may have gone to hide, Crime Watch said. Heavily armed police and a SWAT team were on site, independent photojournalist Rebecca Brannon reported.

Update: Police held a press conference Thursday night at 8 p.m. to brief the media on the situation. No arrests have been made.

“I really wish we didn’t have to be here today,” Bloomington Police Chief Booker T. Hodges said.

He said one of his officers was near the scene when it happened and heard gunshots by the Nike store around 4:15 p.m.

Officers were on the scene within 30 seconds. Video shows two groups getting into “some type of altercation” at the cash register in the Nike store. One group left but then returned and “decided to fire multiple rounds into a store with people.”

Hodges said at this time it doesn’t appear anyone was injured.

Officers believed the suspects fled to a nearby hotel but did not locate them there.

“I just want to say to those who committed this act: please turn yourself in. But should you choose not to, our officers, our partners, our detectives will not stop until we lock you up,” Hodges said.

“We cannot continue to have this disregard for human life,” he added.

He described the shooting as an “isolated incident” and said police don’t believe there is an ongoing danger to the public.

This is a developing story.

 

Anthony Gockowski
Website

Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.

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