Gunman Kills Five In Utah Shopping Mall
Posted February 13, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Shoppers at a historic mall in Utah were forced to run for their lives Monday as a gunman entered the complex and opened fire, killing five people before being fatally shot himself, reportedly by police.
Authorities were called to the Trolley Square shopping mall, a 22,000-square-metre centre in Salt Lake City including stores like Pottery Barn Kids, Williams-Sonoma, and Bath & Body Works, in the evening after the man in a trench coat started shooting at customers, apparently at random.
Horrified shoppers and mall employees ducked for cover and hid in storerooms as they waited for the rampage to end.
Bath & Body Works manager Marie Smith, 23, said she saw the gunman through the window of her store – she recalled seeing him shoot at a woman who was approaching him from behind.
“His expression stayed totally calm. He didn’t seem upset, or like he was on a rampage,” she said, adding that the suspect looked like “an average Joe.”
Authorities, who spent hours following the violent events searching the mall’s stores for frightened shoppers and workers, said they weren’t sure what might have motivated the attack. They wouldn’t identify the gunman or confirm whether it was a police bullet that ended his life.
At least four people were sent to hospitalized after the events, three in critical condition. Two of those critically wounded included a 16-year-old man and a 50-year-old man.
Matt Lund, who was visiting his wife Barbara, the manager of a children’s clothing store, said they heard shots as they hid in a storage room for about 40 minutes.
“We heard them say, ‘Police! Drop your weapon!’ Then we heard shotgun fire. Then there was a barrage of gunfire,” said Lund, 44. “It was hard to believe.”
As police attempted to take control of the situation they treated everyone as a suspect, telling them to lie on the floor with their hands on their heads to make sure no one else could be considered a suspect.
The gunman’s victims were found throughout the shopping centre.
A refurbished trolley barn that was built in 1908, the renovated Trolley Square mall has a series of winding hallways, wrought-iron balconies, brick floors, and about 80 stores and several restaurants.
Police confirmed that an off-duty officer was in the mall at the time and was involved in bringing down the suspect. Fortunately he wasn’t injured in the exchange.
Sign up for a del.icio.us account here to save your bookmarks for free online.
