NJ mall shooting suspect brother: Motive unclear

(AP) NJ mall shooting suspect brother: Motive unclear
By SAMANTHA HENRY
Associated Press
PARAMUS, N.J.
The brother of a man who police say killed himself after firing several shots inside a New Jersey mall says he’s not sure what led to his brother’s actions.

Kevin Shoop says his brother, 20-year-old Richard Shoop of Teaneck, acted in a selfish manner.

He says the shooting has left him devastated, and calls his brother a great person who was liked by his friends and family.

Kevin Shoop says Richard didn’t intend to harm anyone but himself. He says his brother didn’t tell him what he planned to do.

Authorities say Richard Shoop fired at the ceiling of the Garden State Plaza in Paramus on Monday night. No one was injured, and police later found Shoop’s body in a back corridor of the mall.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

A 20-year-old gunman intent on dying fired multiple shots inside New Jersey’s largest shopping mall, trapping hundreds of customers and employees for hours as police scoured stores for the shooter, who was found dead early Tuesday of a self-inflicted wound, authorities said. There were no other injuries.

Investigators don’t believe the gunman, identified as 20-year-old Richard Shoop of Teaneck, intended to shoot anyone when he began firing at the ceiling and elsewhere at the Garden State Plaza on Monday night shortly before the mall’s closing time, Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said.

“We think he went in with the intent that he was not going to come out alive,” Molinelli said.

He said Shoop was known to authorities and had had a problem with drugs, but he did not elaborate.

The prosecutor said Shoop left an ambiguous note with his family. While Molinelli would not call it a suicide note, he said it did “express that an end is coming. It could have been prison. … It could have been what he did last night. It gave his family reason to reach out to us.”

A woman who lives near Shoop’s home on a quiet suburban block in Teaneck said her son awoke to news of the shooting Tuesday and realized he knew Shoop, who worked at a nearby pizza shop. She said her son, a high school senior, was aware that Shoop had used drugs.

“But he was very sweet, sweet, kind boy,” said the neighbor, Audrey Rosen. “And we’re all just very upset about the whole situation.”

A phone message left at the Shoop residence in Teaneck was not immediately returned. A police car was parked outside the house.

Chaos erupted shortly before the mall’s 9:30 p.m. closing time when authorities said a man dressed in black and wearing a motorcycle helmet fired six shots. Molinelli said the gun, which was modified to look like an AK-47 assault rifle, belonged to Shoop’s brother, who owned it legally and did not give his brother permission to take it.

Shoop’s body was discovered around 3:20 a.m. Tuesday in a back corridor of the mall, deep within a lower level, in an area that is not accessible to the public, Paramus police Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg said. Shoop did not work at the mall, he said, and investigators were still trying to determine why he went there.

Witnesses said the sound of gunfire sent customers and employees rushing hysterically for the exits and hiding places at the mall, which will remain closed on Tuesday.

Jessica Stigliano, 21, of Ridgefield, who’d been in the food court, said she had thought, “Not many people run for their life, but that’s what I’m doing right now.”

Hundreds of law enforcement officers converged on the 2.2 million-square-foot mall, which was put on lockdown. New Jersey State Police landed a helicopter in the parking lot and SWAT teams with K-9 units initially went through the mall and started evacuating people.

Nick Woods was working in the Lego store when a woman ran by shouting that there was a shooting.

Woods said his supervisor locked them in a back room, along with a man and a child who ran into the store. When they finally peeked out two hours later, he said they saw police officers standing outside and Woods called 911 to ask that the officers be told they were coming out.

He said the emergency operator told him she couldn’t contact individual police officers and that he should walk out with his hands in the air.

“I had to go out of the store shouting at the officers with my hands up, and they turned and pointed their guns at me,” Woods said. “It was one of the scariest experiences of my life.”

Joel Castaneda, 18, of Englewood, who was working at the Ann Taylor Loft store, also spent time locked in a back room. He said he heard several loud bangs and thought they were from construction at the mall until he saw people running.

He said people rushed into his store and locked themselves in a back room _ employees and customers alike _ where they pulled out cellphones to try to get news or reach loved ones.

Carlos Sinde, 36, of New York City, was alerted by fire alarms going off while he was watching previews for the 9:20 p.m. showing of the movie “Gravity” at the mall.

He said he walked into the mall where someone was saying, “I think there was a shooting,” but he didn’t take it seriously. Then, security guards ran up, urging customers to leave. He said one security guard was crying.

“Once the security guards started telling us what was going on, that’s when there was hysteria,” he said.

Early Tuesday, families were being escorted by police to a Chili’s restaurant on the outskirts of the mall area to be reunited with others who had been in the mall for hours.

The mall, which has more than 270 stores, is located about 15 miles northwest of Manhattan.

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Associated Press writer Meghan Barr in Teaneck, N.J., contributed to this report.

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