Boise, Idaho (US): Police said they exchanged fire with a suspect during a shooting at a mall in Boise, Idaho, that left two people dead and four injured, including an officer.
Boise Police Chief Ryan Lee said at a news conference that the shooting was reported around 1:50 p.m. Monday — along with a report that one person was “shot and shot down” at that time, according to the Associated Press.
When the officers arrived, they spotted a person matching the suspect’s description.
“A shootout occurred shortly thereafter, resulting in the officer’s injury, as well as the arrest of the suspect,” Lee said. He said investigators believe there was only one shooter and no continuing danger to the public.
On Monday evening, the police said in a press release that the suspect was in a critical condition in hospital and that the injured officer had been treated and released. The authorities have not released any other information about the victims or the suspect, saying that an investigation is underway.
“We can’t at the moment talk about any motive behind this,” he told me.
Boise Towne Square Shopping Center is the city’s largest shopping mall.
“I cannot stress enough how shocking this event was to the community at large, as well as to those who were witnesses, the families of those involved or those involved themselves,” he told me.
After the shooting, several witnesses stood in the rain outside the entrance to Macy’s – one of the mall’s five major stores – waiting to be questioned by police or told they could leave. Patrol cars from several agencies, ambulances and fire trucks filled a section of the mall’s parking lot. Officers from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were assisting in the investigation.
About a quarter of a mile away, officers blocked off a section of the road near a busy intersection so they could investigate a second crime scene linked to the shooting. The officers at the second crime scene refused to answer questions.
Sherry Gibben, from Boise, was at the mall with a girlfriend where they walk for an hour three or four times a week. She said she heard several big bangs, but she thought something had fallen from the ceiling.
Then about 60 people, including families pushing strollers, came rushing towards them, some of them screaming that there was an active shooter.
“My friend was trying to process it,” said Gibben, 60. “I just looked at her and said, ‘We have to run.’ So we ran and kept running until we got to the perimeter of the parking lot.”
They made their way back to their car, as police asked the crowd of people who had fled the mall to leave the parking area.
Lee said investigators are working with hospital officials to inform the families of those injured and killed in the shooting.
Boise Mayor Lauren McLean has asked the public and news media to give victims and their families privacy as they deal with the trauma of the shooting. She thanked law enforcement officers, first responders and others who she said worked to keep the community safe.
“Countless people have found themselves in a situation they shouldn’t have or never expected,” said MacLean, praising the shopkeepers and others for reacting “so quickly to taking care of the people out there. You showed in a difficult and chaotic moment how much you care and what you are willing to do.” It is to support and take care of strangers.”