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Three people dead after shooting at shopping mall in Maryland Three people dead after shooting at shopping mall in Maryland
(35 minutes later)
Three people died in a shooting at a large shopping centre outside Three people died in a shooting at the Mall in Columbia, a large shopping centre outside
Baltimore, Maryland, on Saturday, and police said they were allowing Baltimore, Maryland, on Saturday. Police said one of the three dead was believed to be the gunman. Two people with minor injuries were transported to hospital for treatment.
shoppers to leave the mall after determining there was no longer a At an afternoon press conference held at the mall, the Howard County police chief, Bill McMahon, said: “At about 11.15 this morning, our 911 centre received a number of calls reporting a shooting at the Columbia mall. Officers were able to get to the area and were able to identify three victims in an upper-level store.”
threat.  After the incident, police had said that the scene was “believed to be secure” at about 12.36pm ET. Later, police said they were allowing shoppers to leave the mall, after determining there was no longer a threat.
A 911 call at about 11.15 am ET reported that shots had McMahon repeated that the shooting had occurred in an upper-level store at the mall, contradicting media reports that had placed the incident in the lower-level food court.
been fired at the Mall in Columbia in Columbia, Maryland, Howard County police said on Twitter.  Police later used Twitter to say that one of the dead people was the “suspected shooter” and that there was no information available about the other victims. He continued: “One of the deceased appears to be the shooter. We do not think at this point that there are any more shooters in or around the mall. When something like this happens, people run in many directions. They also do what we actually train people to do, which is to shelter in place. So right now we have many, many people still in the mall who have secured themselves inside stores. Our Swat teams, with help from many agencies around the state, are going through the mall now to get those people out.”
Police did not immediately know the identities of the dead, but said one of the people was believed to be the shooter. The scene was “believed to be secure”, police said in a tweet at about 12.36pm ET. Later, police said they were allowing shoppers to leave the mall, after determining there was no longer a threat. Answering questions from the assembled media, McMahon repeatedly said that police did not yet have the identities of the victims or a motive for the shooting. He also said law-enforcement officers had not fired shots during the incident.
The mall, which has about 200 stores and is located about 30 miles north of Washington DC, typically opens at 10am on Saturdays. It was not known how many shoppers or workers were present at the time of the shooting.Joan Harding of Elkridge, Maryland, was shopping with her husband, David. She said she heard something heavy falling, followed by gunshots and people running."My husband said, 'Get down!' and the girl that worked in the store said, 'Get in the back,'" Harding said. That is where they hid until police gave the all-clear.Witnesses said they heard a succession of gunshots fired near the food court on the first floor of the mall. People were directed out of the mall and into a parking lot, where some boarded a bus and others walked toward their cars. Some people were seen crying.Laura McKinzles of Columbia works at a kiosk in the mall. She said she heard between eight and 10 gunshots, followed by people running and screaming. She ran into the backroom of a perfume store and locked the door. Ken Ulman, the executive of Howard County, said there would be another news conference at 4pm local time.
The Mall in Columbia, which has about 200 stores and is located about 30 miles north of Washington DC, typically opens at 10am on Saturdays. Joan Harding of Elkridge, Maryland, was shopping with her husband, David, when the incident occurred. She said she heard something heavy falling, followed by gunshots and people running. "My husband said, 'Get down!' and the girl that worked in the store said, 'Get in the back,'" Harding said. That is where they hid until police gave the all-clear.People were directed out of the mall and into a parking lot, where some boarded a bus and others walked toward their cars. Some were seen crying.Laura McKinzles, who works at a kiosk in the mall, said she heard between eight and 10 gunshots, followed by people running and screaming. She ran into the backroom of a perfume store and locked the door.The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report