US (Washington Insider Magazine) – A confrontation at a Phoenix area outlet mall resulted in gunshots on Wednesday, injuring 5 people, along with a young child, and forcing hundreds to flee.
Three people, along with at least 1 young child, were shot and injured earlier, according to police, with one of the victims suffering from life-threatening wounds. Police stated none of the victims’ injuries were life-threatening at a brief press conference Wednesday evening.
According to Glendale police Officer Tiffany Ngalula, the event at Tanger Outlets, a mall in a lively entertainment zone in the western suburb of Glendale, was “an altercation between 2 groups of people” that developed into a brawl and then a gunshot.
A young guy with a firearm was in the mall with a woman and a small kid, according to police. According to authorities, the man got into a fight with a bunch of young men he knew, and a shooting occurred.
According to authorities, 2 young males from the second group were sent to hospitals with bullet wounds, while the man with the kid and wife was taken to a hospital for treatment of unknown injuries.
The identities of the 5 people who were injured were not revealed immediately.
According to ABC NEWS, hundreds of individuals fleeing the shooting, as well as worried friends and family who came to the scene, were queued up in parking areas around the mall hours after the shooting.
The mall and other businesses remained closed while police searched and cleaned stores where customers sought refuge. Authorities still had numerous individuals to question, according to Ngalula, a job that would likely go far into the night.
Police officers stationed at a checkpoint in the mall’s parking lot were seen checking cars and searching the trunks of those leaving. Yellow crime scene tape was put directly outside a mall door in another area.
Around 2:40 p.m., officers from all across the region responded to reports of shooting in an external courtyard at the mall. The mall is located across a parking structure from the Westgate Entertainment District, as well as a few blocks from the Arizona Coyotes’ hockey arena and the Arizona Cardinals’ football stadium.
The attack came nearly 2 years after a man opened fire at Westgate, injuring 3 people.
Armando Hernandez, the 20-year-old accused in the shooting, reportedly went through the entertainment zone before returning to his car and loading 3 rifle magazines for a social media video. According to Glendale police, the gunman recorded the incident while carrying a smartphone in his left hand and firing a weapon with his right.
Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to the charges. In June, his case will go to trial.
