BULLETIN: 3 Dead In Maryland Mall Shooting, Howard County Police Department Says
BULLETIN: Three people are dead in a shopping-mall shooting in Columbia, Md., the Howard County Police Department is reporting via Twitter.
“Call came into 911 around 11:15 a.m. that shots were fired,” the department said. “Police made entry and found three dead, one found near a gun and ammunition.”
Columbia is near Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
Call came into 911 around 11:15 a.m. that shots were fired. Police made entry and found three dead, one found near a gun and ammunition.
— Howard County Police (@HCPDNews) January 25, 2014
Victims identified:
Patrick
Quick note: The Howard County Police Department hasn’t yet released the name of the alleged shooter.
Patrick
Statement on Facebook from Zumiez, the store chain that employed the shooting victims:
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“We are deeply saddened by the violence that has occurred this morning within our store in Maryland at The Mall in Columbia. Our hearts go out to the victims and their families.
“As you have heard from the Howard County Police the two victims are Zumiez employees. They have been identified as Brianna Benlolo and Tyler Johnson.
“We’re making arrangements for counselling to be made available to Zumiez employees in the area.
“As you can imagine, we are receiving numerous calls and are unable to respond to the flood of questions at this time. We’re working with the Howard County police department and all information will come through them. We won’t be giving interviews or comments. Thank you for understanding.
“The Zumiez team is a tight knit community and all of our hearts go out to Brianna and Tyler’s families.”
Rick Brooks, Zumiez CEO
https://www.facebook.com/zumiez/posts/10151803189732434?_osource=SocialFlowTwt_DCBrand
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Zumiez describes itself as a “leading specialty retailer of action sports related apparel, footwear, equipment and accessories.” Its stock trades on NASDAQ.
The store sells items for adults, girls and boys — and this is Saturday, meaning the Columbia Mall likely was packed.
There potentially could have been lots of people in the line of fire, including children.
So, the death toll is three — two shooting victims who are young adults, and the gunman. And five people suffered other injuries or maladies and were treated at the hospital.
Patrick
Patrick
Police disable devices found in Md. gunman’s bag
http://news.yahoo.com/police-disable-devices-found-md-gunman-39-bag-033612656.html
Patrick
Thanks, Tony.
Patrick
Patrick
From Howard County Police via Facebook:
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Howard County police have confirmed the identity of the man who shot and killed two employees before taking his own life in an incident yesterday at the Columbia Mall.
Investigators identified Darion Marcus Aguilar, 19, of Hollywood Road in College Park, as the shooter. They still have not yet established motive in this case. One of the victims in the incident, 21-year-old Brianna Benlolo, also lived in College Park, but police have not yet been able to determine whether the two knew one another. They are continuing to conduct interviews and gather information today. Police also are working to see if Aguilar had any connection to the other victim, 25-year-old Tyler Johnson, of Mt. Airy.
Explosives experts took necessary precautions to get close to Aguilar’s body after the shooting. Police observed he was wearing a significant amount of ammunition when his body was found. He was located lying near a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun and it is believed he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police believe the gun was legally purchased by Aguilar in December.
A search of Aguilar’s bag found inside the store revealed two homemade devices that appeared to be an attempt at making explosives. Both were rendered safe. Police conducted a thorough search of the mall overnight using 20 K-9 units from various law enforcement agencies and found no other devices.
Police have interviewed a victim who was shot in the foot during the incident. She advised that she was on the lower level of the mall below the Zumiez store when she received the injury. Police believe Aguilar fired between six and nine shots inside and outside of the Zumiez store and at least one of those shots fired down to the lower level, striking the victim in the foot. Four other people sustained minor injuries from medical conditions or from falling in the rush to get away from the scene.
Detectives also reviewed video of Aguilar’s entrance to the mall after he was dropped off by a cab around 10:15 a.m. yesterday. They tracked his movement and found that he stayed in a generally confined area before the shooting in the Zumiez at 11:15 a.m. The mall was cleared around 2 a.m. today and will remain closed, possibly through Tuesday.
Mall patrons who left personal property in the mall’s common areas can pick them up at 30 Corporate Center, also known as the PNC Building at 10440 Little Patuxent Parkway, near the mall between noon and 5 p.m. Grief counselors will be available for those picking up property over the next few days. The mall management team will be contacting retailers directly today to schedule appointments for them to access their businesses. Anyone with an emergency situation related to property left inside the mall should call the mall’s Public Safety Office at 410-730-3302.
Additional information will be released as it becomes available.
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https://www.facebook.com/HowardCountyPoliceDepartment?ref=hl
Patrick