ONFIRE-TV.com – Howard County police have identified the victim in yesterday’s fatal shooting inside the Columbia mall as Angelo Little, 17, of Columbia. Police are offering a reward of up to $5,000. Officials report you may remain anonymous.
Anyone with information is urged to contact police at 410-313-STOP or [email protected].
According to authorities, officers worked to evacuate mall attendees in an orderly fashion and the mall was fully cleared by 9:00 p.m.
A man is dead after a shooting inside The Mall in Columbia on Saturday.
According to Howard County police, there was an altercation at the mall’s food court around 6:10 p.m. followed by at least one gunshot. The man died at the scene, and no other injuries were reported.
“We are still working to confirm his identity; however, based on the preliminary information and evidence of the officers and detectives have located, we do believe that this victim was targeted,” Howard County police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn said. “This is a situation where we believe that there was an altercation between two people. This was not something that our investigators believe was a random incident or an accident. This is something we believe was intentional.”
Police said there were no signs of an active shooter.
“There is no ongoing danger,” Llewellyn said. “We believe that the people involved in this incident left the mall property, and we are in the process of actively escorting people out of the mall to make sure they are safe and for their own personal security.”
At 8:45 p.m., police were still evacuating shoppers who sheltered in place in the mall for hours while investigators spoke with witnesses.
“I was inside American Eagle and I heard a shot. I thought it was above me, but I realized that it was actually right next to me, and then, I saw people running, and that’s when I just started running with the crowd,” Jonathan Kim, a shopper, told 11 News. “It’s tragic.”
“Our first thought was, ‘No way this happens in Columbia. This isn’t the kind of area where there would be like gunshots and stuff like that.’ So, we just thought we were overreacting,” Brandon Hall Delawder, a shopper, told 11 News. “I guess it just goes to show it can happen anywhere, doesn’t matter the area.”
Witnesses told 11 News they heard one shot and then saw panicked crowds running.
“We thought something just fell. It just sounded like a chair fell or something. It was just really loud,” Tara Little, a shopper, told 11 News. “It’s kind of crazy to think about.”
Businesses in the mall knew what to do after the shooting based on learnings from after an active shooter incident in 2014.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 410-313-STOP.
Comments are closed