Monroeville Mall Shooting: One Suspect In Custody, Three Victims In Hospital

Police have identified a 17-year-old suspect they say opened fire in the Monroeville Mall in Pennsylvania Saturday night and sent three people to the hospital with gunshot wounds, the Associated Press reported.

Tarod Thornhill was arrested Sunday just after 3 a.m. EST at his home in Brackenridge, Pittsburgh’s WTAE-TV reported. He will face charges of aggravated assault, attempted homicide and recklessly endangering other people, according to multiple media accounts. Police indicated they used social media and surveillance video to aid in the arrest, the AP said.

Monroeville Police Chief Doug Cole told reporters two men and a woman were shot Saturday, WTAE-TV said. One of the men and the woman were bystanders, he said, but his department has evidence Thornhill intentionally targeted the other man.

“This was not random,” Cole told reporters, according to the AP. “We have evidence that leads to that [conclusion].”

Thornhill was taken to Allegheny County Jail to await arraignment. Police said he fired multiple shots inside a Macy’s store at the mall around 7:30 p.m. The mall was closed and evacuated for the night once police were called to the scene.

The three wounded people were taken to Forbes Hospital, WTAE-TV reported, citing a hospital representative who said one is in stable condition and the others are in critical condition.

The hospital was told to lock down its emergency room until it was certain the shooter had been captured, the station reported. People with 15 different law-enforcement agencies were called in to conduct the search for the suspect and investigate the incident.

According to the AP, NFL quarterback Terrelle Pryor, a native of Pennsylvania who starred for Ohio State University, tweeted Saturday he was at the mall, about 15 miles from Pittsburgh, when the shooting occurred: “D--- was just in monroeville mall and just saw 2 ppl get shot. They are letting guns go in there.” However, the tweet appears to have been deleted.

Four on-duty police officers have been stationed at the mall Friday and Saturday evenings at its operator’s request, Monroeville Mayor Gregory Erosenko told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “I would have thought that having four officers there would have deterred any incident like we saw [Saturday],” he added.