Highlights
- Several shots were fired inside the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota
- No casualties have been reported in the incident
- Suspect fled the mall on foot and officers are in the process of interviewing witnesses
Amid the continuing gun violence in the US, several shots were fired inside the Mall of America (MOA) in Bloomington, Minnesota; however, so far no casualties have been reported. As per Bloomington Police, the suspect fled the mall on foot and officers are in the process of interviewing witnesses. At this time no victim has been located, the police added.
Before the shots were fired, police had said there was an "active incident" inside the mall and therefore the Mall of America was briefly placed on lockdown Thursday. Police said that at least three shots were fired inside the shopping centre. Terrified shoppers sheltered in place at the Minnesota mall at around 6 p.m. Post the incident several videos of the incident have been shared by many on social media platform. One of the video footage showed Bloomington police searching for the gunman. In another video, three shots can be heard.
Cops later said that the shooting was contained and the lockdown was lifted. The gunman was on the loose. It was not clear whether anyone had been injured. Meanwhile, multiple people were shot dead in Northeast Washington, not far from Capitol Hill on Monday night. The shooting was reported at about 8:30 pm in the 1500 block of F Street North East, The Washington Post reported citing Vito Maggiolo, a spokesman for the D.C. fire department.
According to a tweet from the Metropolitan Police Department, there was a report of multiple victims but the police didn't reveal the numbers. None of the victims have been identified and no suspect information has been released at this time.
Even Officer Sean Hickman, a police spokesman said that multiple victims were found. A neighbour, one of several gathered at the scene as ambulances lined the street, said she heard at least 15 gunshots, according to The Washington Post. The police department also tweeted about a shooting investigation at the intersection of 700 block Newton Place NW, and 200 block of Oglethorpe St NE. It remains unknown if the two of the recent tweets are related to the initial shooting.
With increasing incidents of gun violence in the United States, President Joe Biden had said that the US needs to ban assault weapons for the sake of protecting children and families or raise the age to purchase them from 18 to 21. Furthermore, on June 22, a group of US lawmakers reached a much-awaited deal on a bipartisan gun safety bill after recent mass shooting incidents in Uvalde, Buffalo and Texas, that struck a nerve in the country.
The new bill aims to take firearms away from dangerous people and provide billions of dollars in new mental health funding.
The bill does not ban assault-style rifles or significantly expand background-check requirements for gun purchases, but it gives states more resources to take guns away from dangerous individuals. In recent incidents,7 people were hospitalized on Sunday after a mass shooting erupted in Orlando, Florida. An unidentified assailant pulled out a handgun and fired into the crowd, injuring seven people, reported CNN.
A similar incident took place in the Haltom City of Texas on Saturday where two people were killed and four others including three officers were injured.
Police said that one woman was found dead inside the home and a man was found fatally shot in the home's driveway. An elderly woman who called 911 was shot but expected to survive.
On May 24, a mass shooting incident took place at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas in which several people including 19 children were killed. This was the deadliest attack since the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed, according to CNN. On June 20, a teenager was shot dead and three others including a police officer were injured in a shooting in the area of 14th and U Street Northwest in Washington, DC. On June 1, at least four people were killed in a shooting incident at a hospital campus in Oklahoma's Tulsa city, CNN reported citing police. The shootout incidents in the US have been increasing.
(ANI Inputs)
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