Former NFL Quarterback Witnesses Shooting at Pittsburgh-Area Mall; At Least 3 Injured
At least three people were injured by gunfire at a Macy's department store in a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-area mall Saturday evening. Former NFL quarterback Terrelle Pryor witnessed the shooting.
The shooting took place at Monroeville Mall, about 10 miles east of downtown Pittsburgh, Reuters reported.
"We were in Dick's (Sporting Goods) and all of sudden a whole bunch of people started running," Madison Strohl, a witness, told CNN. "There were five shots fired right outside of the Macy's inside the mall ... it was really scary."
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The wounded – two men and one woman – were admitted to Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, about 12 miles east of Pittsburgh. Two were said to be in critical condition and one was in fair condition, Dan Laurent, a hospital spokesman, was quoted as saying.
"All of the sudden we heard people screaming, and the next thing you see is a bunch of people, teenagers, scared to death, just exodus en masse in a way you could not believe," Athena Coffey, another witness, told KDKA. "I grabbed my children, husband, we started screaming 'go, go, go! There was another little boy, he was like, 'I can't find my mommy, I can't find my mommy,' I grabbed him too."
"Damn was just in monroeville mall and just saw 2 ppl get shot. They are letting guns go in there," Pryor, who was at the scene, tweeted.
The whole mall was evacuated soon after the shooting.
Pittsburg Post-Gazette reported that a man was apparently taken into custody near the Champs sporting goods store in the mall, and that a witness saw a suspect in the shooting having an earlier encounter with security officers.
However, some reports said police were still looking for the gunman.
Local authorities sought the help of FBI agents to help look for the shooting suspect.
Multiple police departments are on scene, including Monroeville Police, Allegheny County Police, Port Authority Police and even Munhall Police, in addition to more departments, according to KDKA, which quoted a police source as saying that the gunfire was likely due to a gang fight, and that there were multiple shooters.
About two months ago, the Monroeville Mall closed after a large fight broke out with the involvement of about 1,000.
