According to Delaware State Police, the shooting that broke out at the Christiana Mall on Saturday night started as a fight between four men but quickly turned into a melee in which three people were shot, one unintentionally.
The shooting that broke out at the Christiana Mall on Saturday night started as a fight between four men. (Photo: Yahoo News)
Who Are The Shooters And The Victims?
Around 6:45 p.m., police were summoned to the food court entrance of the mall after learning of the shooting’s reports. The gunfire prompted a mass exodus of shoppers.
Police discovered through their investigation that an 18-year-old man was confronted by three men, whom they have yet to identify. According to police, the men started physically assaulting the victim.
As soon as the victim’s two friends jumped in to assist, one of the suspects drew a gun from his waist and started shooting. According to police, the 16-year-old and the 18-year-old were both struck by three rounds “in the torso and the lower extremities.”
All three were taken to a nearby hospital, where they were all listed as “stable,” and a third man, an 18-year-old who was standing on the sidewalk outside the mall, was also struck by one round “in the lower extremity.”
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Community Gathers In Prayer Near Mall Food Court
Three males in their late teens, according to the police, are the suspects. Police reported that they were all dressed in dark colors at the time of the shooting.
Following the shooting on Saturday evening that left three people with gunshot wounds and numerous others injured, local gun violence prevention advocates gathered on Monday afternoon.
The horror of Saturday’s incident hit close to the core of Margaret Guy’s motivation for working to end violence, according to Guy, who also serves as the executive director of the nonprofit Stop the Violence Prayer Chain and organized this event. Her nonprofit provides at-risk children and teenagers (ages 4–17) with programs to keep them away from troublesome and violent activities.
Guy stated, “I had teenagers from my program shopping in the mall at that time,” adding that she had received frantic calls from program participants who were traumatized as a result of the event.
Guy expressed gratitude that none of the kids in her program suffered any physical harm, but she wanted to try to put an end to the violence and let everyone know that someone cares. On Monday, they were at Christiana Mall to walk, pray, and hold signs.
They prayed for everyone, including the shot teenagers and the violent offenders.
Guy said, “We pray that they recover and that these people put these weapons down, that these teenagers stop obtaining all of these weapons.
A small group of activists from various anti-violence organizations gathered by Mall Road in the parking lot and circled up. Collectively, they prayed for love, harmony, and peace. A few participants entered the circle and spoke about the demand for more family support, mental health care, and restrictions on gun access.
Moms Demand Action leader Anne McWalter stated that while they were there to support Guy’s efforts, they also wanted more legislative action to further limit access to firearms in the First State.
The sale of assault weapons is prohibited, the age requirement to purchase most firearms is raised to 21, and gun manufacturers and dealers are now liable for careless or negligent acts that result in gun violence, according to a package of laws that Gov. John Carney signed last year.
The group requests that lawmakers take up the permit-to-purchase legislation once more since it was never passed out of the House Appropriations committee the previous year. If passed into law, purchasing a firearm would necessitate a permit, fingerprinting, firearms training, and training in gun safety.
According to Walter, the goal is to make it more difficult for “some people who should not have guns” rather than to prevent people from purchasing firearms.
Guy advised people to carry on with their lives as they are while he tried to determine how to respond to what occurred at the mall.
Don’t let these people prevent you from engaging in routine, joyful activities, she advised.
Those who were present at the mall on Saturday during the shooting described it as terrifying.
One girl, Penny, 13, was in Pennsylvania with her brother Andy, younger sister Lily, and a family friend while their parents enjoyed a date night.
After hearing the shots, Penny called her mother and said she believed she was going to pass away.
The call was “the scariest thing I’ve ever had to listen to,” according to her mother.
Similar sentiments were expressed outside the mall on Saturday night and on social media by other people who were there that evening.
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