One Arrested, Three Injured in Shooting at Mall Outside Pittsburgh

Published at 7:54 pm, February 7, 2015

EastIdahoNews.com Staff

Alex_Schmidt/iStock/Thinkstock(MONROEVILLE, Pa.) — Police arrested one person on Sunday in connection with a shooting at a mall outside Pittsburgh that left three people injured.

The shooting happened at Monroeville Mall about 7:33 p.m. Saturday, according to the Monroeville Police Department. The arrest was made early Sunday morning.

The gunman appeared to have targeted one of the two men injured in the shooting, said Monroeville Police Chief Doug Cole. Both men were taken to Forbes Regional Hospital in critical condition.

“It’s safe to say” that the other two victims, one of the men and a woman, were not targeted, said Cole.

Both male victims are in critical condition, according to Dr. Chris Kaufman of Forbes Regional Hospital. They are both expected to survive. The female victim was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The mall also announced a new policy mandating any visitors under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian over the age of 21 on Friday and Saturday evenings.

According to the police complaint, investigators identified the suspect as Tarod Thornhill, 17, after finding an Instagram photo posted hours before the shooting. In the photo. Thornhill was seen wearing the same clothing spotted on a security camera in the Macy’s store.

The teen was seen in the video approaching 20-year-old Davon Jones with a gun in his hand. The two exchanged words, and a pair of bystanders — along with a child — walked between the two men when the suspect fired the weapon. He was arrested on three counts of aggravated assault, four counts of recklessly endangering another person, risking catastrophe and other charges. He is being charged as an adult and was taken to the Allegheny County jail to await arraignment, according to police.

Josh Vehar told ABC News he saw a young man firing into a crowd of people. He said he was with his 5-year-old daughter in the Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood Play, about 20 to 30 feet away from where the shooting happened.

“I watched this kid pull his gun out and when he pulled the gun out, he just started firing,” Vehar said. “He shot like six, seven times and then it just turned into pandemonium after that.”

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