Man injured in shooting at Maplewood Mall; suspect arrested

Police arrested a suspect days after a man was injured in a shooting at the Maplewood Mall in Maplewood, Minnesota, on Sunday afternoon.

Law enforcement and personnel with the Maplewood Fire Department responded to the mall at 3001 White Bear Ave. around 2:02 p.m. for the incident. Officers found the man, who had been shot in the hip, according to police. He was taken to the hospital with an injury that was not life-threatening.

Officials said the shooting stemmed from a group fighting in a lower level of the mall. Two juveniles, whose ages have yet to be disclosed, were detained.

"People were grabbing their kids and running up the stairs," Daria Turner, who was shopping at the time, said. "Somebody came into the store and said, 'Hey, you guys, somebody just got shot, a little kid just got shot in the leg,' and we were like, 'What? So, did they catch the person?'"

The St. Paul Police Department on Tuesday morning assisted the Maplewood Police Department in arresting two additional boys believed to be involved in the shooting.

One of the boys has been "positively identified" as the shooting suspect, police say. The other boy was booked for first-degree assault, second-degree riot and possession of a firearm by an ineligible person.

"Just to think that a group of kids can come in and commit a crime and run out and nobody catch them," Turner said. "It's terrifying to think of."

The mall previously said in a statement of its own that the suspect was "swiftly apprehended" and that the shooting was an "isolated incident" that involved two individuals under the age of 22. 

Anyone with information about the shooting or who has video of it is asked to call Lt. Michael Hoemke with the Maplewood Police Department at 651-249-2605 or email him.  

Following the shooting, the mall closed for the remainder of the day Sunday. Turner said calm employees helped her evacuate safely.

"It was nice that somebody was like, 'Hey guys, come this way,' and was nice enough to open up their store to protect people," she said.

Cat Vang said it was the first time in her two years working at the mall that she's had to evacuate, but her training kicked in.

"We had to act really fast at that moment," Vang said. "We have our [standard operating procedure] policies on how to handle these type of situations, so we just handled it to the best of our ability."

Maplewood Mall store owner recounts shooting

As families gathered nearby at the mall, William Swift said he heard a gunshot Sunday.    

"There was just screaming and kids and families just kind of running in the opposite direction," said Swift.

Swift owns Enchanted Fantasy: Film Museum, just a stone's throw from where the shooting happened.

He captured video of what he said was a neighboring tenant dragging the gunshot victim out of harm's way. He was also recording as he said the victim was taken away by first responders.

Swift said he put fear aside as he directed people in the mall to take shelter inside his store.

"My first instinct was to just kind of try and save as many people as possible and get them to safety," said Swift. "I hope that whoever the kid was that got hurt is going to be OK and I hope, you know, the other kids hopefully learn their lesson from what happened."

The shooting comes amid a mall turnaround, said mall manager George Roethemeyer, as small businesses like Swift's have helped bring the mall's lease rate to close to 100%.

"It was an isolated incident and not the norm for Maplewood anymore at all," Roethemeyer said. "Maplewood PD was on site [and] responded quickly. Our security was there, responded quickly. We have a great team on the ground there."