Breaking: Gunfire at Garden State Plaza Mall

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 11/4/13 at 10:14pm

Everyone in and near Paramus, please stay safe. Reports of shots fired at the mall right now.


BREAKING NEWS

[Marianne2]

Posted: 11/4/13 at 10:36pm

I've been there a couple of times because my grandparents live sort of close by. Really scary.

[ljay889]

Posted: 11/4/13 at 10:49pm

Live 4 miles from here. Very scary. It's a massive mall and an extremely busy area.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 11/4/13 at 10:59pm

Mall security told mall shoppers to run, "or they would die," according to News 12 New Jersey.

Well, I'm sure that was the calm, focused, leadership that panicked shoppers needed in an emergency situation. Way to go, mall cops.

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 11/4/13 at 11:10pm

Eh. I'm not sure how you could fault someone for what they are yelling in a life or death matter. That's rather unfair. It was clearly chaos, and your excerpt reflects that.

Latest news is there are no injuries or deaths to report, and they believe the shooter is still in the mall. The SWAT team is doing a full sweep of the mall now. This is all very strange.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 11/4/13 at 11:12pm

Just another day in the U.S.A.

[fingerlakessinger]

Posted: 11/4/13 at 11:19pm

And today there was a lock down at CU because someone was walking around with a gun.
And the LAX incident earlier this week.
But yea. Gun violence is not an issue at all -____-

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 11/4/13 at 11:28pm

Today's incident at CCSU (what is CU?) was connected to a student wearing his halloween costume as he walked through campus, which included a fake sword and gun. It was not a real gun. Just for the record...

[Jane2]

Posted: 11/4/13 at 11:44pm

The news I just saw on tv was that they were pretty sure the shooter had left the mall, and that there was only one shot fired. ONe casing was found. No one was injured.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 11/4/13 at 11:47pm

It just doesn't end, does it??

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 11/4/13 at 11:51pm

Jane, what is SO weird about all of this is that your report (which is what the Mayor is circulating) contradicts every single eyewitness account I have heard. It's all so strange. Anyway, my thoughts and prayers with all of those at the mall. Hope this chaos ends soon.

[fingerlakessinger]

Posted: 11/5/13 at 1:05am

Sorry...didn't realize that missing two letters out of an abbreviation was a crime. Especially when smartphones hate abbreviations to begin with.
And I wasn't aware of the costume development. I haven't seen the news reports since 1 pm.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 11/5/13 at 6:40am

According to my local news they located the shooter, dead, in the mall. Self inflicted.

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 11/5/13 at 9:25am

At 7:30am when I was waiting for the bus to come to NYC the helicopters are still circling in the air. I live about 2 miles from the mall. The news said the mall will be closed all day today.

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 11/5/13 at 9:31am

That is correct, Mama. Such an odd ending to a confusing situation. I'm just glad it wasn't some kind of massive rampage. Phew!

"The suspect, identified as 20-year-old Richard Shoop, was later found dead around 3:20 a.m. in a construction site within the mall, authorities said early Tuesday. He was apparently killed by a self-inflicted gunshot wound."

"It is unclear why Shoop targeted the mall, which is at the intersection of Route 17 and Route 4, near the Garden State Parkway, but police believe he may have been seeking out someone specific who ended up not being there, Fox News reported."




FULL STORY

[trentsketch]

Posted: 11/5/13 at 10:03am

So scary. I'm there all the time for invited screenings at the movie theater.

It's going to take a while to get all the facts on this one. Stories kept getting reported and spread with such fun statements as multiple gunmen and the police trapping thousands in the mall by locking all the doors to find the shooters. Not just local news, too. CNN did chicken with its head cut off coverage using blurry Twitter photos as evidence.

[NYadgal]

Posted: 11/5/13 at 10:13am

This pattern of young men committing suicide (or attempting to) by going on these massive shooting sprees is a huge concern.

It's about the guns. It's absolutely about the guns and the need to ban assault weapons and enact stricter laws.
But it's also about society and psychological issues and why these people are feeling so marginalized. We are, I fear, on a dangerous path and will see more of this.

Our leaders need to stop the political games and start to do some serious work. All of us have to do our part as well. The hate language, at the very least, needs to stop as it only feeds the anger that is so pervasive in our lives these days. We need to come together before its too late.

This isn't somebody else's problem. It belongs to all of us. In my opinion.

Updated On: 11/5/13 at 10:13 AM

[IAMWHATIAM]

Posted: 11/5/13 at 11:24am

Oh Addy, as usual, thanks for so eloquently putting into words exactly what I am feeling!

[strummergirl]

Posted: 11/5/13 at 11:36am

Hindsight's 20/20 but what the eff was the Mayor thinking stating that the gunman fled? I couldn't help but think the residents of Paramus were picturing a post-Boston Marathon city under siege trying the find the shooter.

Co-signed what Addy said.

And the more I read about the CCSU, the more I just wanted to shake the kid over how idiotic it was for him to think nobody would be freaked out seeing somebody walk around like that. The costume was fatigues, not something easy to decipher as goofy, fake Halloween costume.

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 11/5/13 at 11:49am

I agree about the guns. But I also agree that THIS is the more prevalent issue:

"But it's also about society and psychological issues and why these people are feeling so marginalized. We are, I fear, on a dangerous path and will see more of this. "

It's absolutely terrifying what is going on as we see a trend in the age of these shooters (20, 23, 21, etc.) What the hell is happening?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/5/13 at 12:39pm

If the Constitution says we all have the right to any weapon of our choice for any reason at any time, then apparently, the conversation ends there. As the mass shootings increase in frequency, the overall attitude I've picked up from the government is that it's a real shame, but there is simply nothing they can do about it. So, we all just need to get used to it. The solution from the right is that if you fear shootings, then buy a gun so you can shoot first.

Updated On: 11/5/13 at 12:39 PM

[Wildcard]

Posted: 11/5/13 at 12:45pm

Officials always say it's not about gun control, it's about providing mental health care. For some reason, they can't grasp that mentally unstable people having easy access to guns is an issue. A mentally unstable person may not always seek help if it is available. But if the gun access is not present, they are less likely to act out on their craziness.

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 11/5/13 at 1:30pm

"But if the gun access is not present, they are less likely to act out on their craziness."

Wildcard, I'm not trying to stir the pot or argue against you as I'm all for a healthy balanced approach of gun control and mental health reform, but there is no scientific data that supports this statement. Is there? I'm genuinely asking as I don't know.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/5/13 at 1:48pm

I believe the current reply is, "If people want guns, they will get them whether they are illegal or not. Restricting access is only putting the good Americans in harm's way. It's better to arm everyone instead."

[Wildcard]

Posted: 11/5/13 at 1:59pm

Liza, I meant acting out using guns. If they don't have a gun, then they can't shoot people. They can still be as crazy as they are (with knives, clubs, etc) just without the means to easily cause harm to many.