US: One man dead, another critical after shopping mall shooting
23 Nov 2008 7:30 PM
TUKWILA, Washington, Nov 23 AP - One man is dead and a second is in a critical condition after a shooting in a Seattle-area shopping mall that created panic among thousands of shoppers.
Shots erupted in the packed shopping mall on Saturday after an apparent argument between a gunman and the two men, sending police on a store-to-store search for the shooter, authorities said.
The Southcentre Mall in Tukwila was locked down for six hours as police tried in vain to find the gunman.
Officer Mike Murphy, a police spokesman, said there were "thousands" of shoppers at the mall when the shooting took place just before 3.45pm local time (1045 AEDT Sunday).
He said the gunfire may have been gang-related.
"It's a possibility," Murphy said.
The two injured men were taken to Seattle's Harborview Medical Centre, where one of them died.
A hospital spokesman said on Saturday night the second victim was in critical condition.
The gunman used a pistol and fired multiple shots, Murphy said.
He said at least four or five people were detained for questioning, but none of them was the shooter and some had been released. He said some of thosedetained were witnesses.
As police searched for the gunman, they allowed store employees and customers remaining in the mall to exit in groups, Murphy said.
Murphy said the assailant "must have got out with the crowd", but police anticipated identifying the shooter "soon" and making an arrest.
The gunman and the two victims were all in their late teens or early 20s. No one else was injured, Murphy said.
SWAT teams converged on the mall to help search for the suspect.
It was not known what led to the shooting or the relationship between the shooter and the victims or even between the victims themselves.
Shopper Mark Nickels, 51, described the chaos after the shooting.
"Everybody just stopped," he said. "Everybody thought something fell. Then a second or two later, there was a second shot and then everybody scattered. People were running to the (exits) or running to the stores to hide."
TUKWILA, Washington, Nov 23 AP - One man is dead and a second is in a critical condition after a shooting in a Seattle-area shopping mall that created panic among thousands of shoppers.
Shots erupted in the packed shopping mall on Saturday after an apparent argument between a gunman and the two men, sending police on a store-to-store search for the shooter, authorities said.
The Southcentre Mall in Tukwila was locked down for six hours as police tried in vain to find the gunman.
Officer Mike Murphy, a police spokesman, said there were "thousands" of shoppers at the mall when the shooting took place just before 3.45pm local time (1045 AEDT Sunday).
He said the gunfire may have been gang-related.
"It's a possibility," Murphy said.
The two injured men were taken to Seattle's Harborview Medical Centre, where one of them died.
A hospital spokesman said on Saturday night the second victim was in critical condition.
The gunman used a pistol and fired multiple shots, Murphy said.
He said at least four or five people were detained for questioning, but none of them was the shooter and some had been released. He said some of thosedetained were witnesses.
As police searched for the gunman, they allowed store employees and customers remaining in the mall to exit in groups, Murphy said.
Murphy said the assailant "must have got out with the crowd", but police anticipated identifying the shooter "soon" and making an arrest.
The gunman and the two victims were all in their late teens or early 20s. No one else was injured, Murphy said.
SWAT teams converged on the mall to help search for the suspect.
It was not known what led to the shooting or the relationship between the shooter and the victims or even between the victims themselves.
Shopper Mark Nickels, 51, described the chaos after the shooting.
"Everybody just stopped," he said. "Everybody thought something fell. Then a second or two later, there was a second shot and then everybody scattered. People were running to the (exits) or running to the stores to hide."