A teenager was killed during a shooting at the Mall of America on Friday that sent frightened customers at the nation’s largest shopping center racing into a lockdown just before the holiday weekend, police said.
Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges said the victim was a 19-year-old man. A bystander’s jacket was also grazed by a bullet during the shooting at the mall’s Nordstrom location.
There appeared to be some type of altercation between two groups and at one point, someone pulled out a gun and shot the victim multiple times, the chief said. The entire incident lasted about 30 seconds.
Hodges urged the gunman and the others involved in the fight to turn themselves into police.
“We are going to catch you, we are going to lock you up and you are going to get an orange jumpsuit,” he said. “It’s just a matter of when it’s going to happen.”
He also warned people against aiding the suspects in avoiding arrest.
“If anybody helps these people I mean so much as buy them a Happy Meal, give them a ride,” the visibly upset chief said. “We’re going to lock you up with them.”
The mall is expected to reopen Saturday but the Nordstrom store will remain closed, Hodges said.