Cops Bust Pa. Teen in Triple Mall Shooting

One man was targeted, 2 bystanders hit
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Feb 8, 2015 8:13 AM CST
Updated Feb 8, 2015 8:15 AM CST
Cops Bust Pa. Teen in Triple Mall Shooting
Police vehicles line up outside Monroeville Mall, Saturday, Feb. 7 2015, after a shooting took place inside. As many as three people were injured.   (Bill Wade)

Three people were hospitalized today with gunshot wounds after a 17-year-old male opened fire on a man at a Pittsburgh-area mall, police said, striking his intended target as well as two bystanders. The Monroeville Mall went on lockdown last evening after gunfire erupted inside Macy's at about 7:30pm, sending panicked shoppers running. The gunman managed to escape but police were able to identify him by matching surveillance video with images on social media. The suspect, who the AP is not identifying because he is a juvenile, was arrested at a home in Brackenridge about 3:15am today. He was being held at the Allegheny County Jail pending arraignment on charges as an adult of aggravated assault, attempted homicide, and recklessly endangering other people.

Police Chief Douglas Cole said two men and a woman were shot, including the man who was targeted. He said the two men were in critical condition, while the woman was in stable condition. "This was not random," Cole told reporters. "We have evidence that leads to that." Shoppers described chaos as shots rang out. "All of the sudden we heard people screaming," one woman told KDKA-TV, "and the next thing you see is a bunch of people, teenagers, scared to death, just exodus en masse in a way you could not believe. I grabbed my children, husband, we started screaming 'go, go, go!'" Four on-duty police officers have been stationed in the mall on Friday and Saturday evenings after fights broke out among teens in December. "I would have thought that having four officers there would have deterred any incident like we saw (Saturday)," said Monroeville's mayor. (More Pennsylvania stories.)

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