A man with a shotgun fired randomly in a historic shopping mall on Monday night, killing five people and injuring several more before he was killed, police said.
Hours later, police still were searching stores for shocked shoppers and employees who were hiding and awaiting a safe escort from the Trolley Square mall.
"We have six fatalities and multiple victims at hospitals," police Detective Robin Snyder said. "They were found throughout the mall. I don't know male or female or ages."
PHOTO: EPA
At least four people were hospitalized, three in critical condition and one in serious condition, hospital spokesmen said. Two of the critically injured were a 16-year-old man and a 50-year-old man, a spokesman said.
Authorities offered few details about the shootings but said that the gunman entered the mall at about 6:45pm.
The two-story mall, southeast of downtown, is a refurbished trolley barn built in 1908, with a series of winding hallways, brick floors, wrought-iron balconies and about 80 stores, including high-end retailers such as Williams-Sonoma and restaurants such as the Hard Rock Cafe.
Matt Lund, whose wife manages a clothing store, said he saw a woman's body face-down at the entrance to Pottery Barn Kids. He locked himself and four others inside a storage room for about 40 minutes, isolated but still able to hear the violence.
"We heard them say Police! Drop your weapon!' Then we heard shotgun fire. Then there was a barrage of gunfire," Lund, 44, said. "It was hard to believe."
Marie Smith, 23, had the day off but stopped at the mall during an errand and saw the gunman shoot a woman in front of the store.
"He was ahead of her, standing still. I don't think she saw that he had a gun," said Smith, who dashed to a bathroom and locked the door.
Outside the mall, streets were blocked as police swarmed the two-block scene. Dozens of people lingered on the sidewalk, many wrapped in blankets, as they talked about what they had seen inside.
Many employees and shoppers -- "a lot of scared people" -- were still inside hours after the shootings, waiting to leave, Snyder said.
"This is a huge area to cover," she said.
An off-duty officer from Ogden was in the mall and involved in the shooting, said Ogden police Sergeant Blaine Clifford, who declined to release the officer's name. The officer was not injured, Clifford said.
Also in the US, four men were killed and a fifth was critically wounded in a shooting in an office building in Philadelphia's Navy Yard on Monday evening, police said.
The gunman shot four men, at least one of whom had been bound with rope and tape, killing three of them, according to local media reports.
The fourth victim survived the assault and was taken to a local hospital.
The gunman also shot at police, who returned fire. The shooter then killed himself, police said.
A local radio station said the shooting happened during a board meeting for one of the businesses in the Navy Yard Business Center, a new development on the south side of Philadelphia.
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