Arden Fair Mall Shooting: 17-Year-Old Among 2 Dead, Police Say

A shooting at a California mall on Friday evening left one person dead and another in critical condition, according to police.

Sacramento police responded to the Arden Fair Mall around 6 p.m. on November 27 following a report of shots fired, according to a police department press release. When officers arrived, they found two victims, one of whom was later pronounced dead at the scene and another who was taken to a nearby hospital “with life-threatening injuries,” KTVU said, citing police.

The Sacramento Police Department announced on November 28 that the victims were both under the age of 20. According to SDP:

One victim, a 17-year-old male, was transported to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. Despite the efforts of medical personnel, the victim succumbed to these injuries and was pronounced deceased hours later. The other victim, a 19-year-old male, sustained life-threatening injuries from the shooting and was pronounced deceased on scene by fire personnel.

The mall, which faced “one of the busiest shopping days” on Black Friday, was evacuated, KTVU continued.

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg released a statement on Twitter denouncing gun violence in response to the incident.

“We are deeply concerned by the increase in gun violence in Sacramento and other cities during the pandemic and have supported increasing our efforts to reach young people at risk,” he wrote.

“A gun is never the answer,” the mayor added.

The Sacramento Police Department stated in the release that the suspect remains at large. There is no active threat to the mall and an investigation is underway, the department added.

Here’s what you need to know:

Investigators Are Working to Identify a Suspect, Police Say

Police are currently investigating the incident at the mall, according to the Sacramento Police Department’s Twitter account.

“Officers are still in the early of stages of this investigation,” the department tweeted around 8 p.m. on November 27. “We can confirm that this was NOT an active shooter incident.”

Karl Chan, a spokesman for Sacramento Police, told reporters that detectives will peruse the mall’s “robust” surveillance footage, CNN said.

“We do know that the mall does have a pretty robust surveillance footage so that’s going to be something that our homicide detectives are going to be definitely looking at,” Chan said during a press conference, according to CNN.

The spokesman encouraged anyone with more information surrounding the shooting to reach out to investigators, the outlet continued.

“We … are doing everything that we can to identify the suspect or suspects who are involved in this incident and make an arrest in this,” Chan indicated, CNN reported.

The Suspect Is Believed to Be a Male ‘in His 20s,’ Police Say

The Sacramento Bee reported that several mall employees said they heard eight to 12 shots.

“Dispatch logs said that officers, reviewing video from within the mall immediately after the incident, showed a single shooter, believed to be 18 to 25 years old, who approached the victims,” the newspaper wrote.

The gunman, sporting a “dark-hooded” jacket, then fired at the pair and ran from the mall toward Arden Way, according to The Sacramento Bee.

Police said the suspect was “believed to be” seen in a 1990s red Camry, said the news outlet. According to the SPD news release, detectives “have a limited suspect description of an African American male in his 20s.”

A motive for the shooting has not yet been determined, but investigators argue it was an “isolated incident,” SPD’s statement continued.

“Based on the preliminary investigation detectives believe this shooting is an isolated incident and not the result of an active shooter,” the department said.

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