Mall Gunman Suspect: I'm Innocent

The man accused of opening fire in a shopping mall yesterday in Tacoma, Washington, has pleaded innocent to all charges.

At his court appearance today, 20-year-old Dominick Maldonado was ordered held in jail with bail set at $2 million dollars.

He's charged with eight counts of assault, four of kidnapping and two of firearms possession. The assault charges include the shootings of half-a-dozen people and two who were shot at but not hit. Six people were injured, one critically, in Sunday's attack.

Maldonado reportedly sent a text message to his ex-girlfriend minutes before the rampage saying he was about to show the world his anger.

Tiffany Robison, Maldonado's former girlfriend, said in an interview broadcast Monday on ABC's "Good Morning America" that Maldonado sent her a text message shortly before noon Sunday reading: "Today is the day that the world will know my anger."

She said he also contacted her during the standoff.

"He called me and said he just shot up the Tacoma Mall and he's in the Sam Goody taking hostages," Robison said.

In the past, Maldonado has been convicted of burglary and theft. He was even ordered by one judge not to posses any weapons. Now he faces 14 new counts, which include assault and firearms possession.

Bret Strickler, who said he was Maldonado's best friend, told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer he received a similar text message while Maldonado was holding the hostages.

Authorities said they began getting calls about 12:15 p.m. that shots had been fired inside the mall. The first caller said a gunman "was in the mall, walking along, firing," Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said.

State Patrol and police units from nearby agencies clustered around an entrance at the south end.

Inside, Stacy Wilson, 29, heard a popping noise and turned around.

"I saw the gunman randomly shooting. I ran with a group of women to Victoria's Secret," Wilson said. She said they crouched behind a wall in the store, and when the shooting stopped, an employee ran out and closed a security gate at the front.

Wilson said she heard 15 to 20 shots.

"He was walking backward and shooting. I couldn't see his face," she said. "Everyone was running and screaming."

A man told KING-TV the gunman was smiling as he fired an assault rifle in bursts of four to five shots.

A woman who said she made eye contact with the "very clean-cut" gunman before he opened fire told Northwest Cable News, "When I heard the shooting I thought, 'This is a joke. ... I couldn't believe this was actually happening, that someone would do this."

Meanwhile, the Tacoma Mall reopened Monday.

In an instant, the controlled chaos of holiday shopping turned bloody when a man strolled into a busy shopping mall and opened fire on shoppers with an assault rifle.

Sunday's shooting rampage at the Tacoma Mall, coming just days before the start of the holiday crush, highlighted the vulnerability of America's shopping centers.

At malls across the country, thousands of people come and go, often carrying bulky packages. No metal detectors check them for weapons.

CBS' Jennifer Miller spoke with Tacoma shopper Janee Weathersby.

"Not expecting what happened yesterday, then today, you never know," Weathersby said. "You never know what might happen today."

"If someone is determined, I don't know that you can prevent it," said Capt. Mark Couey, who heads homeland security for the Washington State Patrol.

But Couey noted that violence at malls is extremely rare.

"I don't think it calls for people to be paranoid or install metal detectors," Couey said. "I don't think the public would stand for either."