The Mall of America was placed on lockdown Thursday evening after shots were fired in what police called an “isolated incident” in the Bloomington, Minnesota, shopping center. It was unclear if anyone was wounded.
Video posted to social media showed police with rifles responding to the scene as panicked shoppers ran for safety.
The shooting occurred around 4:16 p.m. local time and the lockdown was lifted a little under two hours later, the mall said in a statement Thursday night.
In a tweet at 5:40 p.m., Bloomington police confirmed that shots had been fired, and that a suspect had fled the mall on foot. Police added that the mall had “been secured.”
“At this time we have not located a victim,” police wrote.
The shopping center will remain closed for the rest of Thursday evening, police and the mall both said in statements.
Witnesses described to CBS Minnesota hearing gunshots.
“We were about to go into the Nike store, and we heard a lot of commotion, and then we just look over and just heard pop, pop, pop,” Jodiss Pierre said. “You duck and then you run, but while you run you look back to make sure your family is OK. That’s what I did because I was with my family, I had to make sure they were good. And then we just ran to the closest exit.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said in a statement, “tonight’s violence at the Mall of America is unacceptable. These brazen incidents will not be tolerated.”