[BALTIMORE.CBSLOCAL] Three people are confirmed dead after a shooting at the Columbia Mall. One of the dead is the suspected shooter. No identities have been released. Police say they have one person identified already, but have not released that name yet.I used to go shopping there now and then...
Police first responded to calls of a shooting around 11:15 a.m. Within two minutes, they arrived to find a man and a woman, both in their 20s, shot dead. Police say the victims were employees at the Zumies store on the second floor of the mall above the food court.
I keep waiting for terrorism to show up in this country, but there are lots of times I think the turbans needn't bother. We have enough pinheads who think life is a movie and they're the star.
Authorities say the shooting happened both inside and outside the store.
Police say five others were taken to the hospital--one of those patients was shot in the foot. The other four were treated for either medical conditions or complications like twisted ankles.
The mall has since been cleared and all roads are blocked off.
"We do have three confirmed fatalities and we want to send our thoughts and prayers to the families of those victims," said Howard County Executive Ken Ulman. "This has obviously been a tremendously trying few hours and we ask that people continue to bear with us. This is an active crime scene and will continue to be an active crime scene for quite some time."
We don't know how the suspected shooter died, whether that person was shot by police or committed suicide.
So far, that person has not been identified. Police say the shooter used a shotgun and had a large amount of ammunition on him at the time of his death.
They say they are approaching the situation with caution, making sure there are no explosives on the gunman's body.
"There's a lot of police activity," said Mark Massechia. "Very chaotic right now."
Massechia said he witnessed workers walking out of the mall with their hands up.
Shopper Shafon says she saw the shooter.
"I looked up at the second floor by the escalators, the shooter looked straight at me and pointed the shotgun and took a shot and my husband yelled get down and we ducked," she said.
She said the shot hit the wall and caused the plaster to fall on them, another shot hit a fire extinguisher. She described him as young, between 18-21, tan khaki pants, white shirt, suspenders, shotgun.