Police officers responded to reports of shots fired outside Tucson Mall Friday evening.
At least two shots had been fired in the mall parking lot during the mall’s busy holiday hours, police said. They were unable to locate any victims and no one arrived at local hospitals with gunshot wounds.
The Tucson Police Department received a call saying that shots had been fired on the north side of the mall, located at 4500 N. Oracle Road, around 7 pm, according to department spokesman Sgt. Chris Widmer.
According to the person who called 911, a man fired a shot at a vehicle in the parking lot. Police searched for the shooter and a female companion but were unable to find them.
There were no shots fired inside the mall, and police said shoppers were not in any danger. Officers recovered shell casings at the scene.
This is the second mall shooting in the past two weeks, although the previous one had fatalities. A gunman killed two people and wounded several others at the Clackamas Town Center in Portland, Oregon before killing himself. The shooter was identified as 20-year-old Jacob Tyler Roberts, who apparently shouted “I am the shooter” before opening fire on innocent shoppers.
A motive for the shooting remains unknown.
While Oregon law doesn’t prohibit bringing a concealed weapon into a shopping mall , Clackamas Town Center has a “Code of Conduct” sign at all the mall entrances. The sign states that firearms are prohibited, but there is no way to tell if a shopper is carrying a weapon.
We will update this story once more details emerge about the Tucson Mall shooting.
