Bloomington, Minnie. A man with a shotgun was taken into custody after a standoff Friday in a Mall of America parking lot. The officers provided this information.
The Bloomington Police Department said on social media that crisis negotiators were brought to the scene and the man was taken into custody in the area of American Boulevard and 24th Avenue in the Minneapolis suburb.
The standoff began just after 4 p.m., after a 911 caller said the man had a large gun in the parking lot and broke into a tent for the Royal Canadian International Circus, which is set up on the lot. The Star Tribune reported,
Bloomington police said officers arrived to find a man with a firearm in the parking lot who refused to leave when told to do so by police.
People in tents and a nearby hotel were evacuated. Officers reached out to family members of the man, who said he was suffering a mental health crisis.
Police said crisis negotiators tried to get him to surrender, but at about 6:15 he went to his vehicle and did not get out. The Star Tribune reported that about half an hour later, the man got out of his SUV and heard two gunshots, fell to the ground and screamed.
Officers handcuffed the man, who was alive and walking. The man, who was not immediately identified, was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, the Star Tribune reported.
Shoppers could not enter the parking lot during the standoff and nearby streets were closed, but reopened after the standoff ended.
Mall of America spokeswoman Laura Utect said one entrance to the mall was closed while police questioned the man, but the mall remained open.
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