Police: 2 die, 4 injured in Idaho mall shooting

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A suspect is in custody after two people were killed and four injured — including a police officer — in a shooting at a shopping mall Monday in Boise, Idaho, police said.

At a news conference, authorities said officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect. The majority of the mall has been cleared but police were still looking for any additional victims.

Police didn’t release any other information, saying the investigation was ongoing.

Police are asking people to avoid the area. Police also said they were notifying the families of those involved.

The Boise Towne Square shopping mall is located in Idaho’s largest city and is the city’s largest mall.

Police were interviewing dozens of people outside the entrance to Macy’s, one of five large department stores at the mall that has 153 stores in all.

Police are also investigating what appears to be another crime scene at a restaurant near the mall.

Cheri Gypin, of Boise, was in the mall with a friend where they walk for an hour three or four times a week. She said she heard several large bangs, but thought something had fallen from the ceiling. Then about 60 people, including families pushing strollers, came running at them, some of them shouting that there was an active shooter.

“My friend was trying to process it,” said Gypin, 60. “I just looked at her and said, ‘We’ve got to run.’ So we just ran and kept running until we got to the outer perimeter of the parking lot.”

They made their way back to their car, where police told the crowd of people who had fled the mall to leave the parking area.

Investigators were working with hospital officials to notify family members of those injured and killed in the shooting, Lee said.

The shooting between between the suspect and officer will be investigated separately by the Critical Incident Task Force led by the Meridian Police Department, police said Monday evening.

Boise Mayor Lauren McLean asked members of the public and the news media to give the victims and their families privacy as they deal with the trauma of the shooting. She thanked the law enforcement officers, first responders and others she said worked to keep the community safe.

“Countless people found themselves in a situation they never would have or should have expected,” McLean said, lauding the shopkeepers and others in the mall for reacting “so quickly to take care of folks that were there. You showed in a tough and chaotic moment how much you care and what you’re willing to do to support and care for strangers.”

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This story has been updated to correct that four people were injured, not six, as previously reported by police.