2 Injured in Shooting at Mall of America on New Year’s Eve
Officers outside the Mall of America on Friday, Dec. 31 after a shooting injured two people. PHOTO BY MN CRIME
Officers outside the Mall of America on Friday, Dec. 31 after a shooting injured two people. PHOTO BY MN CRIME
Bloomington police are investigating after two people were injured in a shooting at the Mall of America.
Officers first reported hearing what they suspected was a gunshot and radioed for assistance just before 5 p.m. Friday.
Officers inside the mall found two victims near Sears Court on the third floor, reporting that one victim had suffered a gunshot wound to the leg, and another had suffered a wound to the shoulder. Both injuries appeared to be non-life-threatening, they said in initial dispatch audio.
Per camera footage from inside the mall, the suspect appeared to be a shorter, light-skinned black male, accompanied by four black males with dreads. The suspect appeared to flee in a 2007 silver Ford Taurus with Minnesota license plate HHR-009, according to the initial audio. If you see this vehicle, call 911.
Metro Transit reported that Blue Line light rail service into the mall was suspended during the incident. Many stores inside the mall, as well as Ikea nearby, went into lockdown as a precaution. Officers stated that the mall would be closed for the day and all guests should leave the premises.
Bystander video submitted to us shows a crowd of people leaving the mall and a man who appears to be a Bloomington officer running in to assist. Other videos shared to social media showed customers inside various stores in the mall, being locked inside.
Officers requested the Hennepin County Crime Lab to help with collecting evidence at the scene. The shooting remains under investigation and no one is in custody at this time. Bloomington Police Department Dep. Chief Kim Clauson said in a media briefing around 6:30 p.m. that the shooting appeared to have followed an altercation between the suspect shooter and one of the male victims, who was transported to HCMC.
Clausen said the other male victim appears to have been a bystander, was grazed by the bullet and was treated at the scene, not requiring hospitalization.
“Certainly, this isn’t something that we want to see occur here and it’s something that we’re going to work very hard to not have happen again,” Clauson said.
A Mall of America spokesperson said a New Year’s Eve celebration that was set for 6:30 p.m. was canceled and refunds would be issued. Retail operations at the mall were already set to end for the day at 6 p.m.
Bloomington police said in a media release around 9 p.m. Friday that investigation is continuing, the shooting does not appear to be random and that the victim and suspect are likely known to each other.
UPDATE: Bloomington police have announced an arrest in connection to the shooting. Sunday, Jan. 2, around 4:50 p.m., Bloomington SWAT, Roseville and Ramsey County officers arrested Latrell Avonte Littles, 19, of Saint Paul, at a motel on the 2300 block of Cleveland Ave. N. in Roseville.
Police say Littles was booked for aiding/abetting 1st-degree assault and formal charges are forthcoming by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. Littles was identified leaving the mall with the suspect who pulled the trigger, police said.
UPDATE: Police arrested the suspected shooter on Tuesday. Kahlil Markell Wiley, 18, of Saint Paul, was arrested around 3 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 4 on the 2600 block of Rice St. in Roseville and a firearm was recovered at the scene, police said.
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