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One person is dead and another person was injured after a shooting at the Fox River Mall in Appleton, Wisconsin, Grand Chute police say. Live scanner audio indicated that the law enforcement response focused around the food court. You can listen to archived scanner audio below.
The victim was later named as Jovanni J. Frausto, 19, of Neenah. The suspect was at large and named as Dezman V. Ellis, 17, by police. According to the Appleton Post-Crescent, authorities believe it was a “targeted” shooting.
On Sunday, January 31, 2021, at around 3:30 p.m., “officers from the Grand Chute Police Department along with numerous other agencies responded to the Fox River Mall for a report of shots being fired inside the main mall corridor,” Grand Chute police wrote in a statement posted to Facebook.
“It is believed that the shooter left prior to the arrival of law enforcement. A preliminary search for active threats inside the mall was completed. A thorough search is currently underway to locate and safely escort out those who had sheltered in place. We expect this to be completed by around 9:00 p.m.”
Police added:
We have identified several witnesses who observed the incident. Those individuals either have or are currently speaking with investigators. We are actively following up on leads and possible suspect information. We will provide suspect information as soon as we are able. We can confirm that there are two victims. One victim sustained only minor injuries. One victim is deceased. At this time, we will not be identifying the victim out of respect for the family to allow the proper notifications to be made.
We ask anyone with information to reach out to the Grand Chute Police Department by either calling the department at 920-832-1575, by texting your tip by texting “TIPGCPD” followed by your tip to 847411 (TIP411), or through the Grand Chute Police app. We would like to thank all the agencies that responded and assisted in this incident. Most importantly, we would like to thank the public and news media for their patience and understanding. A formal press release will be released at a later time.
Police have not indicated a motive or whether the shooter knew the victims.
“The suspect’s still on scene,” police said in the live scanner audio when the incident first broke. All information is preliminary. Authorities then told dispatchers they were in the food court and weren’t hearing any shots at that moment. Here’s the original scanner audio (about 15 minutes into the below audio, you hear officers start talking about the mall and food court).
here’s what you need to know:
The Scanner Audio Described the Law Enforcement Response to the Food Court Area
WBAY-TV reported that, according to the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department, authorities responded to an “active situation” they did not specify on the afternoon of January 31, 2021. WBAY later confirmed there was a shooting.
Police referred to the possibility of injuries in the live scanner audio obtained by Heavy.com. They said they were going to leave room for medical evac and referred to counting any casualties, although it’s not yet clear whether there were any. Responding authorities were going to rally together at the food court. They referred to a “patient with a gunshot wound” at one point in the scanner audio, which you can listen to below. They said some of the incident went down near Fox River Brewing. At one point, authorities thought a shooter or shooters might have gone into Scheels store. Officers then told dispatchers they were “clearing Scheels.”
Police also said they located a male “victim” they referred to as “the gunshot victim from Scheels.” Multiple stores were locked down and authorities told people to shelter in place initially. There was a “patient in the ambulance,” according to one officer, and another was dealing with a “non-critical.”
WTAQ reported that authorities responded to a weapons call that might have involved a shooting, but sheriff’s officials had not yet confirmed that information. Police had not confirmed whether there was any active shooter situation or something else.
On the dispatch audio when the situation broke, officers said they were going in by mall security. “We’re going to start securing that area,” an officer said, referring to the possibility of injuries.
“Multiple squad cars can be seen at the Fox River Mall. Law enforcement has yet to confirm what has happened, and are only calling it an active situation at this time,” wrote WBAY-TV on Twitter.
There Was a Massive Law Enforcement Presence at the Mall
Videos and photos posted to social media showed a massive presence at the mall. Dispatchers said on the scanner that dispatch was “bombarded with calls.”
People were advised to stay away from the busy shopping mall. It’s not yet clear whether anyone is injured. The motive and suspect and victims are also not yet clear.
You can listen to live scanner broadcasts here.
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