Police searched a suspect Friday night in a shooting at a suburban Milwaukee shopping center that injured seven adults and a teenager. Wauwatosa Police Chief Barry Weber gave no motive for the Mayfair Mall attack in a brief update about three hours after the 2:50 p.m. incident near an entrance to the Macy’s store. He said the extent of the injuries to the eight victims was unknown, but they were all alive. He added that the shooter “was no longer at the scene” when authorities arrived.
“Preliminary statements from witnesses indicate that the shooter is a white male in his 20s and 30s,” Weber told reporters. “Investigators are working to determine the identity of that suspect.” The boss said the mall was an active crime scene and asked people to stay away. He said the mall would remain closed until further notice.
Witnesses told WISN-TV that they had heard what they believed to be eight to 12 shots. Some people remained at the mall while police searched for a suspect. The station interviewed several people outside the mall who said they had refugee friends inside the stores while the search was being conducted.
Jill Wooley was inside Macy’s with her 79-year-old mother when they heard eight to 12 shots just outside the store’s entrance. “We heard the first shot and knew right away it was a shot,” Wooley told CBS58 in Milwaukee. “We both fell to the ground.”
Wooley said he didn’t see anyone, but the shots were “very close.” He added that they ran in the opposite direction to the basement of the store, where they then hid.
Trish Cox’s 19-year-old nephew works at sporting goods store Finish Line. She said she was concerned that the store’s phone was not being answered and was frantic as she waited while FBI agents cleared the mall.
An agent who did not want to give his name said the mall was being cleaned “methodically”. Heavily armed FBI personnel were visible in the mall.
The Brookfield Properties shopping center operator said in a statement that they were “disheartened and angry that our guests and tenants were the subject of this violent incident today.” They declined to comment further.
The Mayfair Mall was the site of a shooting in February in which a city police officer, Joseph Mensah, shot and killed Alvin Cole, a 17-year-old black man. Police said Cole was on the run from the police; Mensah, who is also black, said he shot Cole because Cole pointed a gun at him. The mall was the target of sporadic protests for several months in the wake of the shooting.
The Milwaukee County district attorney declined to press charges against Mensah, but the city this week agreed to a separation agreement in which Mensah will be paid at least $ 130,000 to leave the force.
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