BRETT LOGIURATO
Business Insider
November 5, 2013
A gunman has been found dead, according to reports, after police responded to reports of shots fired in the Garden State Plaza Mall in Paramus, N.J., shortly before 9:30 p.m. ET on Monday.
Paramus Mayor Richard LaBarbier had told reporters at a news conference around 11:15 p.m. ET Monday night that police believe the shooter has left the mall, but has not been apprehended. It is no longer an active shooting incident, said Jim Tedesco, the deputy coordinator of the New Jersey Office of Emergency management.
LaBarbier also confirmed there are no injuries reported.
“I want to assure anybody who’s home — has family members who could be at the mall — there are zero injuries,” LaBarbier said.
Paramus Chief of Police Ken Ehrenberg released a statement shortly after midnight on Tuesday:
“At approximately 9:19 this evening, a single male entered the Garden State Plaza mall and fired several shots while the shopping mall was still open. He was dressed in black wearing what is believed to be a motorcycle helmet. The weapon has not yet been recovered. No further shots were fired and there are no reported injuries.
“Many patrons and employees are still in the mall, which remains in lockdown, under the direction of Chief Ehrenberg of the Paramus Police Department.”
Eddie Kahmann, a mall employee, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that he heard gunfire around 9:20 p.m.
“There were just people running like crazy, so I quickly just closed my doors, ran to the back, turned off all the lights, music and everything, just to stay hidden,” Kahmann told CNN.
Ally Cozic, another witness, told Cooper that a man dressed in black looked like he was carrying a firearm in the mall. Cozic also said that she believed the man was wearing some kind of “tactical vest” or body armor. Both Kahmann and Cozic spoke with Cooper by phone from inside the mall.
Another mall employee told News12 in New Jersey that the man was wearing a bicycle helmet, making possible identification impossible.
Here was the early scene outside the mall, which is located in Bergen County, about 22 miles southwest of Manhattan.
Garden State Plaza Mall in NJ: pic.twitter.com/KmO17LHX3p
— Christopher Carbone (@CCarbone7) November 5, 2013
And another:
Here’s the scene at one of the mall entrances. From @MyFoxNY feed. http://t.co/Y8rFgMdwZq pic.twitter.com/nA66UOhvTQ
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) November 5, 2013
The Emergency Election Sale is now live! Get 30% to 60% off our most popular products today!