A 20-year-old man wearing a motorcycle helmet and dressed in all black walked into a busy New Jersey mall minutes before it closed Monday night and began shooting, sending terrified customers running and trapping hundreds more in the building overnight as police searched for him.
Hours later, he was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in a remote area of the 2.2 million-square-foot building, officials said Tuesday morning.
No one was injured in the gunfire at Westfield Garden State Plaza Mall in Paramus. The gunman, identified as Richard Shoop, fired six rounds, striking an elevator, escalator and several store facades about 9:30 p.m. Monday. He was using a Sig Sauer rifle modified to look like an AK-47 that he stole from his brother earlier in the day, officials said.
Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said it wasn't clear whether he intended to hurt people.
"I don't know as I stand here whether his motive was to injure anyone," Molinelli said. "I do not believe that Mr. Shoop thought he was going to come out of here alive."
