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A gospel star and Christmas shoppers were seen diving for cover when a shooter opened fire at the Mall of America in Bloomington Minnesota, leaving one man, 19, dead.
The shooting prompted the Mall of America to go into lockdown less than two days before Christmas, lifting shortly after, at around nine o’clock Friday evening.
Despite enhanced security measures installed in October and 16 officers on site at the time of the shooting, Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges said no arrests had been made yet.
Hodges said officers heard gunshots on the first floor of Nordstrom and it appears that there had been a physical altercation prior to the shooting involving up to nine individuals.
Gospel star Jovonta Patton and Christmas shoppers were seen diving for cover when a shooter opened fire at the Mall of America in Bloomington Minnesota, leaving one man, 19, dead
Hodges said officers heard gunshots on the first floor of Nordstrom and it appears that there had been a physical altercation prior to the shooting involving up to 9 individuals
Despite enhanced security measures installed in October and 16 officers on site at the time of the shooting, Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges said no arrests had been made yet
The police chief labelled the shooting as ‘just flat-out stupid’ and stressed that the suspects, who ran from the mall through the parking lot, would be caught and justice would be served.
‘This is just stupid, stupid, stupid,’ said Hodges in a press conference.
‘Whoever did this, we will catch them. And whoever helps them, we will lock you up, too.’
A video uploaded to Instagram by Jovonta Patton, a five-time number one chart-topping Billboard recording artist, composer, producer, and entrepreneur, showed the events from his perspective unfold.
In the video the recording artist can be seen shopping at a Gucci store with a caption stating that he had been making a ‘reel.’
‘So, bae, did you find the purse that you want,’ he can be heard saying to a woman smiling next to him.
In the video the recording artist can be seen shopping at a Gucci store with a woman. He is heard asking ‘bae’ whether she’d found a purse she liked just before shots were fired
The person filming can also be seen hitting the ground amid the chaos with the footage showing the person taking the video scrambling to move from the storefront
Shortly after asking the question, a loud gunshot can be heard and the woman looks directly at the camera in shock, before she and Patton quickly dive to the ground and take shelter in the store.
The person filming can also be seen hitting the ground amid the chaos with the footage showing the person taking the video scrambling to move from the storefront.
When the video continues, a person can be heard saying ‘I hope that something just fell’ as the person filming hides in what appears to be a store cupboard with other Christmas shoppers.
The mall bans guns on the premises but does not have metal detectors at its entrances. It began month-long testing of the use of a ‘weapons detection system’ at its north entrance in October.
The mall says it will reopen Saturday at 10 am, the Nordstrom store will remain closed, however.
‘I really feel the family, the mom, the dad, the other relatives the mayor and I spoke to before coming out here, they’re in pain, and rightfully so, for something that should not have happened,’ said Hodges.
The police chief labelled the shooting as ‘just flat-out stupid’ and stressed that the suspects, who ran from the mall through the parking lot, would be caught and justice would be served
The shooting prompted the Mall of America to go into lockdown less than two days before Christmas, lifting shortly after, at around nine o’clock Friday evening
The Mall of America began testing enhanced security measures in October, when a weapons detection system and bag checks were added to the north entrance
In August, charges were filed against five Twin Cities residents after a fight inside the Nike store led to gunfire inside the mall.
The suspected gunman escaped the scene and was arrested the following week in Chicago. No one was injured in the shooting.
Later that month, a 28-year-old Woodbury man was arrested for allegedly committing an armed robbery inside the mall with an AR-15-style rifle.
The Mall of America began testing enhanced security measures in October, when a weapons detection system and bag checks were added to the north entrance.
Almost one year ago, on New Year’s Eve, two men were injured when a single gunshot was fired inside the mall. The 18-year-old gunman later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 45 months in prison.
Earlier this month, the Mall of America settled a lawsuit with the family of a five-year-old boy who was tossed off a third-floor balcony by a man who claimed he was ‘looking for someone to kill’.
Landen Hoffman, now eight, was five years old when the man with a history of causing a disturbance at the mall threw him off a balcony – 40-feet to the ground – at the shopping center in Bloomington, Minnesota in April 2019.
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