A 19-year-old man was killed in a shooting at a store at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, on Friday evening, police said.
The victim, whose identity was not released, was shot dead in a fight on the first floor of Nordstrom, Police Chief Booker Hodges told reporters.
The mall’s security video recorded the altercation, which took place between two groups of five to nine people. During the fight, a man pulled out a gun and fired multiple shots at the victim, Hodges said.
It was unclear what led to the fight. He said a group of five to seven people fled from a door after the shooting and no arrests were made late on Friday.
Hodges expressed frustration with the situation and called on everyone involved to turn themselves in.
“It’s a tragedy and I’m really trying to contain what I’m really thinking about it, but we’re going to catch these people, believe me,” he said.
He said his thoughts were with the family of the victims, who “must bury one of their loved ones.”
“They’re in pain, and rightly so, and for something that shouldn’t have happened,” said Hodges.
The shooting happened just before 8:00 PM and the mall was shut down. The mall tweeted at 22:10 that the lockdown was being lifted.
It happened on a busy shopping day before Christmas Eve. Hodges said there were 16 officers at the mall on Friday, including one near Nordstrom who heard the gunfire.
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A bystander’s coat was grazed by a bullet, but no other injuries were reported, Hodges said.
Opened in 1992, the shopping center experimented with metal detectors at some entrances earlier this year, as reported by KARE. The mall told the station at the time that it was testing options “that could allow us to further improve security systems.”