21-10-2012, 07:52 PM
Up to 8 people injured in mass shooting near Wisconsin mall
Up to eight people have been injured in a shooting spree near a mall in Brookfield, Wisconsin, a hospital spokeswoman says. Officials said this is a "mass casualty" situation, local WISN 12 News reports.
The shooting occurred at 11:00 am local time on Sunday near the Brookfield Square Mall., Police told Fox6 News.
A spokeswoman at the local Froedtert Hospital says it has received four patients from the shooting, none critical, and expects three more.
Area hospitals have been put on alert as more casualties could be coming, though Froedtert said they were unaware of any other local hospitals taking in patients.
The identities of the shooting victims have not been released.
Authorities are looking for a suspect described as a heavy-set, bald black male in military fatigues who is possibly driving a a 2003 Black Mazda. Other witnesses believe the shooter might still be in the area, possibly in the mall. Several roads in the area have been blocked off and police are holding tactical positions at the scene of the shooting. At least 16 emergency vehicles have been dispatched to the scene.
The Brookfield Square Mall remains on lockdown as witnesses say the shooting took place at the nearby Azana Day Spa.
The FBI is sending hostage negotiations and other agents to help the local police, and ten ATF agents are now at the scene. Ten ATF agents are now at the scene.
A bomb sweep of the building is currently underway.
David Josh, a witness to the incident, said they said a woman run out into a nearby road screaming amidst the traffic.
"She ran right out into the street was pounding on cars," the Journel Sentinel quotes him as saying.
Gosh said a large black man armed with a handgun ran onto the street in pursuit of the woman. Police then showed up, at which point the alleged shooter ran back into the building, or possibly the woods behind the building.
"He was the shooter," Gosh said. "He was looking for an escape route," Gosh continue.
Several other witnesses reported seeing a barefoot woman fleeing the scene
Christopher Pfeiffer, who was parked outside a nearby Barnes & Noble bookstore, said he saw a young woman running between the parked vehicles.
"She was screaming, yelling, crying hysterical. She was pleading for help," said Pfeiffer said. "She kept saying, 'My mother was shot.' And she mentioned that there was a gunman. She ran into the bookstore and I followed her. But I watched her from afar."
Brookfield was the scene of another infamous mass shooting. In 2005, Terry Ratzmann walked into a local Sheraton Hotel and shot dead seven members of the Living Church of God before turning the gun on himself.
Four others were wounded in the shooting, one critically. Ratzmann, who was reportedly about to lose his job, had been sent into a rage by a sermon given at the church two weeks prior.
Up to eight people have been injured in a shooting spree near a mall in Brookfield, Wisconsin, a hospital spokeswoman says. Officials said this is a "mass casualty" situation, local WISN 12 News reports.
The shooting occurred at 11:00 am local time on Sunday near the Brookfield Square Mall., Police told Fox6 News.
A spokeswoman at the local Froedtert Hospital says it has received four patients from the shooting, none critical, and expects three more.
Area hospitals have been put on alert as more casualties could be coming, though Froedtert said they were unaware of any other local hospitals taking in patients.
The identities of the shooting victims have not been released.
Authorities are looking for a suspect described as a heavy-set, bald black male in military fatigues who is possibly driving a a 2003 Black Mazda. Other witnesses believe the shooter might still be in the area, possibly in the mall. Several roads in the area have been blocked off and police are holding tactical positions at the scene of the shooting. At least 16 emergency vehicles have been dispatched to the scene.
The Brookfield Square Mall remains on lockdown as witnesses say the shooting took place at the nearby Azana Day Spa.
The FBI is sending hostage negotiations and other agents to help the local police, and ten ATF agents are now at the scene. Ten ATF agents are now at the scene.
A bomb sweep of the building is currently underway.
David Josh, a witness to the incident, said they said a woman run out into a nearby road screaming amidst the traffic.
"She ran right out into the street was pounding on cars," the Journel Sentinel quotes him as saying.
Gosh said a large black man armed with a handgun ran onto the street in pursuit of the woman. Police then showed up, at which point the alleged shooter ran back into the building, or possibly the woods behind the building.
"He was the shooter," Gosh said. "He was looking for an escape route," Gosh continue.
Several other witnesses reported seeing a barefoot woman fleeing the scene
Christopher Pfeiffer, who was parked outside a nearby Barnes & Noble bookstore, said he saw a young woman running between the parked vehicles.
"She was screaming, yelling, crying hysterical. She was pleading for help," said Pfeiffer said. "She kept saying, 'My mother was shot.' And she mentioned that there was a gunman. She ran into the bookstore and I followed her. But I watched her from afar."
Brookfield was the scene of another infamous mass shooting. In 2005, Terry Ratzmann walked into a local Sheraton Hotel and shot dead seven members of the Living Church of God before turning the gun on himself.
Four others were wounded in the shooting, one critically. Ratzmann, who was reportedly about to lose his job, had been sent into a rage by a sermon given at the church two weeks prior.
"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws. - Mayer Rothschild
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass