In Howard County, Md., one of the most common things for teenagers to do on Saturdays is hang out at the Mall in Columbia, the centerpiece of a new town plan created in the 1960s by Jim Rouse, about 25 miles northeast of Washington, as the Washington Post reports. Yesterday, it turned into the scene of the latest mass shooting in the US, the Baltimore Sun reports.
Police say two people were shot dead, employees at the skate shop Zumiez, which carries accessories and clothing for skateboarding and snowboarding. Then the shooter took his own life. The victims are Brianna Benlolo, 21, of College Park and Tyler Johnson, 25, of Mount Airy, according to the Sun’s report. UPDATE: The shooter was identified on Sunday as Darion Marcus Aguilar, 19, of College Park.
A few others were injured, including a woman who was shot in the foot and Terrance Lilly, who fractured bones in his face while jumping over furniture to keep his daughter safe.
Police at a news conference about two hours after the shooting declined to identify the suspected shooter but said they believed the incident involved only the three people who were dead and that the shooter had acted alone, the New York Times reported. Police also said they had found near the scene a great deal of ammunition, including a bag that contained two “crude devices that appeared to be an attempt at making explosives using fireworks,” which they disabled.
The Sun reported that shots were aimed at others in the mall, including a young girl who ducked to get out of the way of a bullet, which pierced the wall behind her and sprayed her with dust. She was not injured.
Additional updates from the Howard County Police Department can be found on the department’s Twitter feed, here.
