The Latest: Police arrest 2 men in Utah mall shooting
MURRAY, Utah (AP) — The Latest on a shooting at a Utah mall that wounded two people (all times local):
5:15 p.m.
Officials with a Utah mall where two people were wounded Sunday in a gang-related shooting are acknowledging that a false fire alarm that went off seconds before the shooting created confusion.
Brookfield Properties spokeswoman Lindsay Kahn said Monday in a statement that two messages were played inside the Fashion Place mall in a suburb of Salt Lake City in short succession. The first message said the original alarm was false, but a second message after the shooting told people evacuate or take shelter.
Kahn said it was an unfortunate coincidence and apologized.
Chicago-based Brookfield owns Fashion Place mall. Kahn says the company is reviewing security measures, but declined to disclose details.
Murray Police Officer Kenny Bass said earlier Monday that the alarm has been malfunctioning for days.
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1:50 p.m.
A Salt Lake City suburban mall where two people were wounded Sunday in a gang-related shooting has reopened and was busy Monday with shoppers who say they aren’t concerned about their safety.
Sean Sasso stopped by the Fashion Place mall in the suburb of Murray to do some quick shopping before going to work as a pharmacy technician. He had heard about the shooting, but says it didn’t deter him because he doesn’t want to live in fear.
Tim and Connie Schieving went to the mall as they do each morning to walk and get exercise and say they felt extra safe with additional police presence.
Police say the shooting that happened just outside the mall near the entrance was gang related, and happened after about a dozen people belonging to rival gangs crossed paths inside the mall.
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10:45 a.m.
Utah police say they have made two arrests connected to the suburban Sal Lake City Mall shooting that wounded two people.
Police said Monday they arrested two 19-year-old men but were unsure whether those men had been gunmen.
Authorities say the shooting was gang related, and happened after about a dozen people belonging to rival gangs crossed paths inside the mall in the Salt Lake City suburb of Murray.
Murray Police Officer Kenny Bass says an argument spilled outside the mall, turned physical and that both groups fired shots.
He says a fire alarm that sent shoppers running for the exits went off by accident, the result of a prior malfunction.
One victim, a woman, has been released from the hospital. A man remains hospitalized in critical condition.
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8:15 a.m.
One of two victims wounded in a Utah mall shooting is out of the hospital as authorities continue to search for the assailants.
Police in Murray, a suburb south of Salt Lake City, say a woman in her early 20s was treated and released just hours after the shooting broke out Sunday afternoon.
A man, also in his early 20s, remains hospitalized in critical condition.
Police believe the shooting may have been gang related and are looking for three suspects.
Authorities say they were described as wearing dark pants and light-colored sweatshirts or hoodies.
The gunfire erupted around 1:30 p.m. at Fashion Place Mall, sending panicked shoppers fleeing. Employees and customers in some stores hid inside backrooms.
It wasn’t immediately clear Monday if the shopping center would be open.
The Western Journal has not reviewed this Associated Press story prior to publication. Therefore, it may contain editorial bias or may in some other way not meet our normal editorial standards. It is provided to our readers as a service from The Western Journal.
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