BALTIMORE-
Two stores employees were shot dead while another person was injured on Saturday in a shootout incident in United States’ Baltimore suburbs of Maryland when a gunman opened fire with a shotgun in a skate shop at a crowded shopping mall before shooting himself.
The police said they did not know the motive for the shooting at the large mall in Columbia, about 20 miles west of Baltimore.
The shooter has been identified tentatively but his name has not been released, he also carried explosive material in a bag, police added.
One person suffered a gunshot wound to the foot, and four others were injured in the chaos. All the injured were discharged after medical treatment at a hospital.
The event took place at about 11:15 a.m. local time on an upper floor of the mall, crowded with weekend shoppers. Police forces responded to the shooting within two minutes and found the three bodies within the skate store.
Police said in a statement Saturday night that a search of the shooter’s bag found inside the store discovered “two crude devices that appeared to be an attempt at making explosives using fireworks.”
Police said both devices were disabled, and that police will conduct a thorough search of the mall using K-9 units through the night.
Investigators also were reviewing footage from surveillance cameras around the mall.
The attack in Columbia follows a shooting at a New Jersey mall in November in which a gunman fired at least six shots without hitting anyone, then killing himself.
U.S. schools and universities have been witnessing shootings in recent days. A student was shot dead on Friday at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, and at Purdue University in Indiana a teacher’s assistant was shot and killed on Tuesday.
-AGENCIES
hmm what a shame?
Comments are closed.