5 arrested in fatal shooting of 19-year-old at Nordstrom in Mall of America, police say

Five people were arrested Saturday in connection with the death of a 19-year-old man, who was shot Friday night in a department store in the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, police said.

Three of the people arrested are 17 years old and two are 18. Police said they are confident they arrested at least one shooter but officials have not ruled out a second gunman.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges said they haven’t determined a motive and the people arrested appear to be uncooperative.

“We know the how, the where, the what and the who, we don’t know the why,” Hodges said. 

The victim, whose identity has not been released, was shot during a fight that happened on the first floor of Nordstrom, Hodges added.

Mall security video recorded the altercation, which took place between two groups of between five and nine people. During the fight, a man pulled out a gun and fired multiple shots at the victim, Hodges said.

It was unclear what led to the fight, Hodges said. He said a group of five to seven people fled out a door after the shooting.

Hodges said his thoughts were with the victim’s family members who are “having to bury one of their loved ones.”

“They’re in pain, and rightfully so, and for something that should not have happened,” Hodges said.

The shooting happened shortly before 8 p.m., and the mall was placed on lockdown. The mall tweeted at 10:10 p.m. that the lockdown was being lifted.

It occurred on the busy shopping day before Christmas Eve. Hodges said 16 officers were in the mall Friday, including one near the Nordstrom store, who heard the shots.

A bystander’s coat was grazed by a bullet, but no other injuries were reported, Hodges said.

Several members of the New York Giants, who faced off against the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday, were in the Mall of America when the shooting occurred. A few players were in the mall, and several players were in the team’s meal room, a meeting-type room just outside their hotel, which was adjacent to the mall. No one from the team was harmed.

“Your first thought is, obviously, once yourself is safe, you think about your teammates,” wide receiver Darius Slayton said. “There’s guys that could have been shopping. Some guys in their room, some people are everywhere. So, obviously, your next thought is all your teammates are OK, which they were.”

The mall, which opened in 1992, experimented with metal detectors at some of its entrances earlier this year, NBC affiliate KARE has reported. The mall told the station then that it was testing options “that may allow us to further enhance” security systems.

The Associated Press contributed.