Surrender Story
From CNN
Mall shooting suspect surrenders
6 people hurt, others held hostage for 3 hours in Tacoma
Monday, November 21, 2005; Posted: 12:06 a.m. EST (05:06 GMT)
Tacoma, Washington
(CNN) -- A man accused of shooting six people at a Tacoma, Washington, shopping mall surrendered to police after a three-hour hostage standoff Sunday afternoon, authorities said.
One of the wounded was in critical condition Sunday evening, a hospital spokesman said.
The man barricaded himself in a music store at Tacoma Mall, taking three employees hostage, after opening fire with a semi-automatic rifle about 12:15 p.m. (3:15 p.m. ET), Tacoma Police spokesman Mark Fulghum said.
A SWAT team arrested the suspect after a period of negotiations, Fulghum said.
"The suspect is in custody; all three hostages are out of the business, and they're fine," Fulghum said.
He had few details about the arrest, but said, "There were no shots fired or anything like that."
He said the shooter, who was armed with a semi-automatic rifle, "was just in the mall and he opened fire," apparently at random.
"He was in the mall, walking along, firing," he said.
Jon Lendosky, Tacoma's deputy fire chief, said five of the six people wounded had minor injuries.
Todd Kelley, a spokesman for Tacoma General Hospital, said one person was received in critical condition.
Tacoma Mall is about four miles south of downtown Tacoma. Among its 140 merchants are Nordstrom, Macy's, JCPenney, Sears and Mervyn's.
Joanne Woods, an employee at a nearby Krispy Kreme donut shop, said police were "on every corner" during the standoff.
"It's sad that people have gotten hurt, but it's a nice neighborhood," she said.
