MURRAY, Utah: Two people were wounded in a shooting just outside a popular Utah mall Sunday where hundreds of scared shoppers hunkered down until police arrived to evacuate the building.
Two people in their early 20s were shot at about 1:30 p.m. near the southeast entrance to the Fashion Place mall in Murray, a suburb south of Salt Lake City, said Murray Police Officer Kenny Bass. The man was in critical condition while the woman was in serious. Both were treated at a hospital.
Police were looking for three people suspected in the shooting, Bass said. He said the shooting may be gang related.
Shoppers were escorted by police out of the mall holding their hands in the air. The mall is a highly visited shopping center in the heart of the Salt Lake City metro area that include with stores such as Crate and Barrel, Macy’s and Nordstrom.
Bass says no other victims or suspects were found inside the mall.
Crate and Barrel employee Danielle Calacino told The Associated Press that she saw people running out of the mall after an alarm blared. She said 10 to 12 employees and around 20 customers hid in the store’s upstairs stockroom. She said police escorted them out after about 40 minutes.
“We were mostly all quiet and in shock,” said Calacino, a 21-year-old student at the University of Utah.
She said she learned there was a shooting from a message on the intercom. Everyone immediately got on their phones, she said, to learn what was happening. Friends were texting to ask if she was OK. Some people were crying.