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Suspect in Minnesota’s Mall of America Shooting Flees on Foot

Police confirm shots were fired as videos circulating on social media appeared to capture a suspect shooting near the mall’s Nike store.

Police have secured the scene at Minnesota’s Mall of America after it was placed on lockdown Thursday afternoon when gunshots rang out in the mall. A mall spokesperson confirmed to the Star Tribune that the mall in Bloomington was on lockdown while a tweet from Bloomington police did the same, confirming that an “active incident” was taking place on the northwest side of America’s largest mall and that “numerous police officers” were on the scene. Police confirmed shots were fired after videos posted online captured what sounded like gunshots near the mall’s Nike store. Other videos show responding officers with rifles drawn as they navigate the mall, which has an average of 40 million shoppers annually. Police later confirmed the shooting was an isolated incident and that the suspect fled the Mall of America on foot. Officers are in the process of interviewing witnesses, and no victims have been reported. Once the lockdown is lifted, the mall will be closed for the evening. The last time the mall went into lockdown was New Year’s Eve, when a shooting broke out during a dispute between two shoppers. One man suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and another was grazed.