Two shootings reported at Puget Sound malls
TACOMA, Wash. Dec 1 2021
Law enforcement authorities on Monday continued their search to identify and find suspects in two separate shootings that occurred last week at Puget Sound shopping malls, sending panicked shoppers scrambling for cover.
Gunfire was reported Friday night at Tacoma Mall, two days after someone opened fire on a couple sitting in their car while it was parked outside JC Penny last Friday at Westfield Southcenter mall.
The victim from the Tacoma attack was listed in stable condition while the two victims hurt during the Tukwila shooting also remained hospitalized.
“Nothing is more important than the safety and security of our employees, shoppers, and retailers,” a spokesperson for Simon Property Group, which manages the mall, said in a written statement. “We maintain a close working relationship with the Tacoma olice Department as well as deploy security measures both seen and unseen.”
Investigators from the Tacoma Police Department said an argument in the mall’s food court escalated to gunfire, sending crowds of shoppers scrambling for safety and prompting a response from 87 officers from eight different law enforcement agencies.
“Any time anything calls out at that mall, it’s an immediate response,” said Tacoma police Officer Shelbie Boyd, adding that during the holiday shopping season police will implement an emphasis plan which puts more uniformed officers on patrol inside and outside the shopping center. “You may see officers from other agencies in uniform inside the mall. That’s all part of the plan.”
She also noted that the mall will occasionally hire off-duty officers to work security at the mall.
When the attack occurred in Tacoma, Boyd said two police officers were nearby and heard the gunfire.
Some shoppers told KOMO News that the shooting made them uneasy about returning to the mall.
“They were near the shooting and they were able to get away,” said Yuri Padilla, whose daughter was meeting friends near the food court. “I was scared. Yeah, I was scared. She got home and she was pretty shaken up.”
Padilla says she doesn’t plan on visiting the center after sunset.
“We prefer coming during the day,” she said. “You always have that little scare inside of you.”
Others are calling for more safety measures to be in put in place.
“Something is being implemented but they need to do something fast,” said Chance Rivers, pointing to a security tower that had been installed in the mall’s south parking lot. “This is where people come to convene. You have to come to the mall and worry about buying gifts for your family and protecting yourself, watching over your back. That’s not cool.”
Before the Tacoma shooting, a young couple was shot outside the JC Penney at Westfield Southcenter in Tukwila.
No arrests have been made in connection with the attack in which Josiah Burnley, 18, was shot eight times, according to his mother.
“He was bleeding within his stomach,” said Jeanine Burnley. “It didn’t hit his spinal cord but it hit the vertebrae [sic].”
The victim’s 17-year-old girlfriend was also shot in the neck and remained in a coma.Monday.
Officials from Westfield did not immediately respond to requests for comment from KOMO News.
