15-year-old girl shot in the chest at Danbury Fair Mall, suspect at large
DANBURY, Conn. Aug 13 2021 Connecticut State Police (CSP) and Danbury Police are investigating after a 15-year-old girl was shot at the Danbury Fair Mall Wednesday evening.
Danbury Police received a report of shots fired at the Danbury Fair Mall near Macy’s at around 7:02 p.m.
Upon arrival, officers found a 15-year-old girl suffering from a gunshot wound to her upper chest area. Police said she was alert and conscious.
It was originally reported that the victim was 16-years-old, but police provided an update on Thursday saying she is 15.
Police said the mall was immediately placed on lockdown.
Police said the victim was taken by ambulance to Danbury Hospital. As of Thursday, the teen remains in stable condition at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. Her identity is being withheld.
Danbury Police said at least eight people were involved in some sort of altercation. That’s when someone brandished a gun, a shot was fired, and the girl was shot. Police said the victim was part of the group that was involved in the altercation, but don’t know at this time if she was the intended target.
After reviewing surveillance video, investigators say they saw one white man leaving the mall with a hammer and they believe he may have been the intended target.
The suspect fled the scene and is still at large. On Thursday, police described the suspect as a dark-skinned male in his early teens with shoulder length dreadlocks.
Police believe he will be identified soon but encourage him to turn himself in to police.
Danbury resident Jessica Salvatore was shopping with her daughter when they were told shots were fired. They ended up hiding in the back of the Brooks Brothers Store with employees.
“Mall Security said something about shots fired so we just ran. Some stores were already closed, so we found one that was open. We told the employees there and we all hunkered down,” Salvatore said.” We just tried to shelter in place.”
Brian Foley, spokesperson for Commissioner of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection James Rovella, said in a tweet Wednesday night that this does not appear to be an active shooter nor mass shooting type of incident.
Foley added that CSP was assisting Danbury Police with traffic control during their shooting investigation.
The mall will be open during its normal hours Thursday: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
WTNH
