Shooting inside suburban Denver mall kills 1; suspect sought

AURORA, Colo. — Gunfire broke out inside a mall in a Denver suburb on Friday, killing one person and causing shoppers to scatter in search of hiding places, police officials and a witness said.

Aurora Police Department spokesman Anthony Camacho said officers were looking for at least one suspect in the shooting that occurred at 4 p.m. inside a J.C. Penney store at the Town Center at Aurora mall.

He said there was no ongoing threat inside the mall, which is open except for the J.C. Penney. Yellow police tape cordoned off one entrance to the store.

“We do not believe there is a threat to the general public,” he told reporters.

Camacho said he could not immediately confirm how many people were involved in the shooting. Details on the person who was killed weren't immediately known.

Officers patrolling the mall responded to reports of gunfire inside the store and found one person wounded, Camacho said. Police also were trying to determine how the shooter got away, he added.

A witness, Jalen Martin, told The Denver Post that he was walking in the mall when he heard a noise and saw people running.

“A few of the people who were in the cluster said, ‘He’s shooting; he’s got a gun,’” Martin said.

He sprinted down an escalator and out of the mall as people ran into stores searching for places to hide, he said.

The mall is in the same city where a gunman opened fire in a move theater in 2012, killing 12 people and injuring dozens more.