NJ Mall gunman dead, no one else hurt

PARAMUS, N.J. (PIX11) — The suspect in the Westfield Garden State Plaza Mall shooting is dead, having killed himself in a remote area of the mall.  The suspect, Richard Shoop, 20, of Teaneck,  N.J., acted alone and apparently never intended to hurt anybody else, authorities said.

His body was discovered by SWAT teams at 3:20 a.m. with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He used a rifle that authorities say he stole from his brother.  He had a history of drug abuse, including MDMA or Molly, Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said at a news conference.

“We do believe the main motive of what he did tonight was suicide., whether self-inflicted or God forbid suicide by cop,”
Molinelli said. “It does not appear that he entered the mall to actually shoot anyone.”

Shoop fired into an elevator area, and damaged some store facade, and some shots were fired straight up, officials said. The manner in which he shot suggests clearly he had no intention to harm anyone, as there were many people who were within the reach of his bullets, authorities said.

“This is the nightmare scenario, but fortunately, it didn’t become a nightmare. The only person  here who had any injuries obviously is the deceased shooter,” said police chief Kenneth Ehrenberg. “We had trained … we were ready for the incident.”

Read more: http://pix11.com/2013/11/04/shots-fired-inside-the-westfield-garden-state-plaza-stores-on-lockdown/#ixzz2jlgvMBnb

 



By Tina Susman

Los Angeles Times


NEW YORK -- A gunman fired a single shot inside a New Jersey mall and was on the loose after apparently fleeing the huge shopping center, officials in Paramus, N.J., said late Monday.

Hundreds of law enforcement officials had converged on the mall after reports of gunfire. There were no reports of injuries.

"We are searching for a shooter," the mayor of Paramus, Richard Labarbiera, told reporters outside the Garden State Plaza Mall.

Jim Tedesco, deputy coordinator of the Bergen County Office of Emergency Management, said: "The shooter, we believe, has left the mall. We have found … a single shell casing."

Labarbiera said there was a "confirmed single shot," although several witnesses described hearing several shots before mall security began yelling at people to flee.

Officials said they were investigating whether more than one shot was fired but that so far only one spent shell casing had been found. Tedesco said he thought it came from a long gun.

"At this time, we have determined that it is not an active shooting incident but we must make sure that the entire mall is checked, so we are going store by store, floor by floor, to evacuate the people that are in the stores," Tedesco said.

At least two people who were inside the mall told television and other media that they saw the shooter firing into the air, not at people.

The witnesses said the person had a long rifle and was wearing black and what appeared to be a helmet.

Althea Brown, 26, of Paterson, N.J., said she was in Talbots, a clothing store in the mall, when she saw the gunman walk by.

"He looked at me and kept on walking," she said. She said she heard three shots, then two more. The man appeared to be wearing body armor and had the visor of his helmet pulled up as he walked, she said.

Another witness, Shadey Reyes, 24, a Bergen County resident, was working in the J. Crew store when she heard shots.

"Everyone froze in place," she said, then ran to the parking lot.

One woman who was in Nordstrom told the local ABC affiliate WABC that she heard several loud bangs.

"It almost sounded like someone was dropping something in the mall," said the woman, who did not want her name used. "It was very strange. And then when we heard it the second time, everyone started running."

Ben Fastman, who works at a stall that sells hair products, said people began running and shouting, "There’s shooting, there’s shooting," the Paramus Patch reported.

The mall, the largest in New Jersey, has more than 300 stores.