WORLD / America
Gunman kills 5 in Utah shopping mall
(AP)
Updated: 2007-02-13 15:49
ALT LAKE CITY - A man with a shotgun fired randomly in a historic
shopping mall Monday night, killing five people and injuring several
others before he was killed, police said.
People who were inside the Trolley Square Mall when a gunman opened fire
gather outside the mall in Salt Lake City, Monday, Feb. 12, 2007. [AP]
Hours later, police still were searching stores for shocked shoppers and
employees who were hunkered down awaiting a safe escort from the Trolley
Square mall.
"We have six fatalities and multiple victims at hospitals," police
Detective Robin Snyder said. "They were found throughout the mall. I
don't know male or female or ages."
At least four people were hospitalized, three in critical condition and
one in serious condition, hospital spokesmen said. Two of the critically
injured were a 16-year-old man and a 50-year-old man, a spokesman said.
Authorities offered few details about the shootings but said the gunman
entered the mall about 6:45 p.m. MST.
The two-story mall, southeast of downtown, is a refurbished trolley barn
built in 1908, with a series of winding hallways, brick floors,
wrought-iron balconies and about 80 stores, including high-end retailers
such as Williams-Sonoma and restaurants such as the Hard Rock Cafe.
Matt Lund, whose wife manages a clothing store, said he saw a woman's
body face-down at the entrance to Pottery Barn Kids. He locked himself
and four others inside a storage room for about 40 minutes, isolated but
still able to hear the violence.
"We heard them say, 'Police! Drop your weapon!' Then we heard shotgun
fire. Then there was a barrage of gunfire," Lund, 44, said. "It was hard
to believe."
Marie Smith, 23, had the day off from Bath & Body Works but stopped there
during an errand and saw the gunman shoot a woman in front of the store.
"He was ahead of her, standing still. I don't think she saw that he had a
gun," said Smith, who dashed to a bathroom and locked the door.
Outside the mall, streets were blocked as police swarmed the two-block
scene. Dozens of people lingered on the sidewalk, many wrapped in
blankets, as they talked about what they had seen inside.
Antique store owner Barrett Dodds, 29, said he saw a man in a trenchcoat
exchanging gunfire with a police officer outside a card store. The
gunman, he said, was backed into a children's clothing store.
"I saw the cops go in the store. I saw the shooter go down," said Dodds,
who watched from the second floor.
Barb McKeown, 60, of Washington, D.C., was in another antique shop when
two frantic women ran in and reported gunshots.
"Then we heard shot after shot after shot - loud, loud, loud," said
McKeown, saying she heard about 20. She and three other people hid under
a staircase until it was safe to leave.
Many employees and shoppers - "a lot of scared people" - were still
inside the mall hours after the shootings, waiting to leave, Snyder said.
"This is a huge area to cover," she said.
An off-duty officer from Ogden was in the mall and involved in the
shooting, said Ogden police Sgt. Blaine Clifford, who declined to release
the officer's name. The officer was not injured, Clifford said.
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