Gunman opens fire at mall in upstate New York; one person wounded
KINGSTON, N.Y. (AP) — A lone gunman opened fire with an assault rifle Sunday inside a crowded mall in upstate New York, wounding one person before running out of ammunition and being subdued by employees, authorities said.
The gunman began shooting inside the Hudson Valley Mall shortly after 3 p.m. in Kingston, nearly 90 miles north of New York City.
The 24-year-old gunman went into a Best Buy store and started firing. When he ran out of ammunition, he was captured by mall employees, police said.
Police did not identify the suspect or the type of gun he used. State police Capt. Wayne Olson said investigators did not know the exact number of shots fired.
An Army recruiter was shot in the leg but was not the target of the attack, said Lt. Col. Paul Fanning, a National Guard spokesman. The recruiter was evacuated by helicopter to an Albany hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.
Another person was injured in the hand, but police said the injury was not a gunshot wound.
The mall was evacuated after the shooting, but an unknown number of workers remained inside after police surrounded the building.
"Everyone was running and screaming. Then I heard the shots," witness Heather Craig told Fox News. "People were running over people. Other people were just standing there dumbfounded."
All mall entrances remained blocked off by police Sunday evening.
-From USA Today and The Associated Press
What an idiot. It's people like that who give owners of certain fire arms a bad name. What gets me is why some employees were allowed to remain in the building. You'd have thought they would have been evacuated with the rest of the people.
Kevin
