Mall shooting at local mall here Options

[BlackCelicaGT94]

There was a mall shooting in Tacoma today - about 40 mins away from me. They say the shooter didnt know anyone he shot that he just opened fire in the food court! so scary! I hate Tacoma..its ghetto anyways! they always have a news story about that city every night!

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A shooting spree that left six people injured and threw a busy shopping mall into chaos Sunday ended more than three hours later with three hostages released and the suspected shooter arrested.

A man walked into the Tacoma Mall just after noon and began firing shots at random before taking three hostages inside a Sam Goody record store, Tacoma Police officials said.

No shots were fired when the man was taken down shortly before 4 p.m. by SWAT team members, said Mark Fulghum, a spokesman for Tacoma Police. The hostages were released safely.

"The suspect is in custody, all three hostages are out of the business," Fulghum said.

Fulghum said he had no other information about the suspect.

Fire official Jon Lendosky said authorities got a call about 12:15 p.m. that shots had been fired inside the Tacoma mall. He said six people were taken to local hospitals with minor injuries. He could not discuss their injuries.

At least one person was in critical condition and two were in satisfactory at Tacoma General Hospital, spokesman Todd Kelley told Northwest Cable News.

Inside a Sam Goody store at the mall, the gunman held three people hostage as negotiators tried to talk to him.

"We're being held hostage," said Joe Hudson, who answered the phone and identified himself to The Associated Press as an employee at the store.

Susan Serdeau said her daughter, Kathy Riggans, 24, is a manager at Sam Goody. Serdeau called her at the store when she heard shots had been fired at the mall.

"She was upset and scared. She was crying," Serdeau said, standing in a parking lot across the street from the mall, crying and hugging her terrier, Dottie. "All she would say was that she was OK."

After the hostages were released, Serdeau cried with relief.

"I'm going to give her a big hug and tell her how much we love her. I'm just happy she's OK. It's been nerve-racking, very nerve-racking."

Stacy Wilson, 29, of Bonney Lake, was walking from J.C. Penney to Macy's when she heard a popping noise.

"I thought a kiosk was falling over." She turned around and "I saw the gunman randomly shooting. I ran with a group of women to Victoria's Secret." She said they all crouched behind a wall in the store, and when the shooting stopped an employee ran out and closed a security gate at the front.

Wilson said she heard about 15 to 20 shots.

"He was walking backward and shooting. I couldn't see his face," Wilson said. "Everyone was running and screaming."

The mall was locked down with shoppers and store clerks still inside. An exit off Interstate 5 to the mall was closed.

Additional details were not immediately available.

Betz Dejarnatt, who works at the J.C. Penney inside the mall, said she heard at least three shots fired.

"I thought, 'That sounds like a gun," Dejarnatt said in a telephone interview with the AP. She said workers and shoppers were herded into dressing rooms and offices, then police had them file outside to a parking lot.

Dale Thompson, 49, said he also was in the J.C. Penney when her heard shots.

"I hadn't been in there very long when I heard rapid gunfire. I could feel the concussion so I knew it was close. I took cover under the display table," Thompson told the AP.

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This post has been edited by BlackCelicaGT94: Nov 20, 2005 - 8:20 PM