The San Jose Police Department announced today on social media they had arrested a suspect in the Nov. 28 shooting at the Westfield Valley Fair shopping mall. Police had indicated there was only one suspect in the shooting, which they said Saturday might have been gang-related.
The Black Friday shooting, described by police as an argument between two males, led to the shooting of one man and the wounding of two female bystanders. Police said the victims were recovering from non life-threatening injuries.
Police said this morning: “Ladies and gentlemen, we got him.”
“Last night SJPD located and arrested the suspect responsible for the triple shooting at Valley Fair Mall that occurred on Nov. 28.”
“More information to follow.”
The announcement was accompanied by a photograph of the suspect, taken from behind, which showed a male with his hands bound behind his back in an orange zip-tie, wearing a gray hoodie, gray baggy jeans and tennis shoes. Police covered the image of his head with a large black square, to hide any identifying characteristics.
They explained later that the suspect was a juvenile, and gave no further details about him, the arrest or the incident. He was arrested more than 48 hours after the shooting, which occured around 5:30pm on Nov. 28.
No information about the shooting victims or their injuries has been revealed, except that they were: one adult male, one adult female and one 16-year-old girl.
The Westfield Valley Fair Mall, one of the largest shopping malls in California, reopened Saturday at noon with increased police patrols and assurances that Friday’s shooting was an isolated incident.
In a statement on Saturday, police said preliminary details indicate the lone suspect “became involved in a verbal altercation with the adult male victim before producing a firearm from his waistband and firing multiple rounds.” They did not name or provide a description of the suspect.
“Initial information revealed the incident to be gang-motivated,” police said.
After the shooting, which prompted hundreds of Black Friday shoppers to seek cover or flee the giant shopping mall, the mall was shut down as dozens of police officers conducted a store-by-store search of the 2.2-million square foot mall.
The mall is located at the boundary of the cities of Santa Clara and San Jose, at Winchester and Stevens Creek boulevards.
(Read the original story at SanJoseInside.com)
