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  1. #1
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    MD. Police ID assailant in Columbia mall shooting

    Police ID assailant in Columbia mall shooting


    View Photo Gallery — 3 dead in Maryland mall shooting: Howard County authorities say three people have been confirmed dead at the Mall in Columbia.

    By Ian Shapira, Paul Duggan, Emma Brown and Peter Hermann, E-mail the writers

    Darion Marcus Aguilar, a 19-year-old College Park resident, has been identified by police as the assailant in Saturday’s shooting at the Mall in Columbia, which left three people dead, including Aguilar.
    Although one of the victims, Brianna Benlolo, 21, also lived in College Park, police have not established a connection between Aguilar and the victims, Howard County Police Chief William J. McMahon said at a Sunday morning news conference.


    VIDEO | The Post's Emma Brown reports from the scene of the Mall in Columbia shooting.



    McMahon said Aguilar was dropped off by a taxicab about 10:15 a.m. at the mall in suburban Maryland, about 25 miles northeast of Washington.

    Aguilar, who police say lived with his mother, got out of the cab at the upper level and was seen going downstairs in the mall. A law enforcement official said that based on a review of surveillance video, investigators think that Aguilar sat for a while in one spot on lower level and did not move around before he went upstairs and opened fire about an hour after his arrival.


    The shooting occurred directly above the mall’s food court, at Zumiez, a clothing store for skateboarders and snowboarders.


    McMahon said six to eight shots were fired, killing Benlolo and a fellow store worker, Tyler Johnson, 25, who had lived in Ellicott City but recently moved to Mount Airy.


    Minutes later, when officers arrived, they found the shooter dead of an apparently self-inflicted wound.


    McMahon said Aguilar’s weapon was a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun, which he bought in Montgomery County in December. Police found the gun next to Aguilar’s body, which was laden with ammunition. In addition, they said, his backpack, which was found in the store, contained what they described as two crude devices that seemed to be an attempt to use fireworks to make explosives.


    Police disabled the possible explosive devices, and, following standard procedure, searched the mall with K-9 units.


    Although Aguilar had a large quantity of ammunition and had apparently tried to make explosives, police said it appeared that he did not target anyone else at the mall.


    Five other people in the mall needed medical treatment, one for a shotgun wound that police said was described as non-life-threatening, the others for minor injuries suffered in the frantic mass exodus from the shopping complex.


    Police said a victim who was shot in the foot told them that she was on the lower level of the mall, below Zumiez, when she was injured.

    Detectives were investigating how the wound occurred.

    A law enforcement source said the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive led the search of Aguilar’s home Saturday night in the 4700 block of Hollywood Road in College Park.

    They were looking for more explosives, among other things.


    Speaking on the condition of anonimity because the investigation is continuing, the source said Aguilar worked at a Dunkin Donuts in the College Park area and was supposed to open the store Saturday morning. He did not show up for work, though, and a manager had to open the store, the source said.


    The source said Aguilar’s mother filed a missing persons report about 1:45 or 2 p.m. Saturday -- roughly two hours after the shooting -- after having tried unsuccessfully to get hold of her son throughout the day.


    Montgomery County schools officials confirmed that Aguilar graduated last June from James Hubert Blake High School, in Silver Spring. He was admitted to Montgomery College but never attended, a spokeswoman said.


    George Sliker, an uncle of the slain Tyler Johnson’s uncle, said he and other relatives frantically tried to contact Johnson after they heard about the shooting. Failing to reach him, Sliker said, they began calling hospitals. Then they drove to the mall.


    “The odds kept narrowing,” said Sliker, 67, of Upper Marlboro. “They couldn’t get anybody to tell them anything. It was horrible for them.”

    He described his slain nephew as polite and upbeat — “a likable kid” — and said he could not fathom why anyone would want to shoot him.


    “It’s very hard on the family, of course,” Sliker said. “He just seemed like an ordinary kid who was at the wrong place at the wrong time.”


    Bryan Fischer, 34, said Johnson was a “kind of shy guy” who for the past several years had volunteered in an anti-drug program in Howard County schools. Johnson loved concerts and music, especially rave, dubstep and electronic dance.


    “He was a very sensitive kid with a huge heart who was there to help anybody in need, always there with a smile or a joke, loving and caring, and one of the best friends anybody could ask for,” Fischer said.


    Fischer said that Johnson did not socialize much with his slain co-worker, Benlolo, with whom he had worked at Zumiez since late last year.


    Benlolo was an assistant manager at the store, according to Corey Lewis, who for the past two months was her housemate at a white duplex in College Park, just on the edge of the University of Maryland campus. Benlolo had a 2-year-old son who spent time with her at the duplex a few days a week, Lewis said, and posted numerous pictures of him on Instagram and Facebook.


    “She was always kind and joyful,” Lewis said, noting that she had a smile on her face as she prepared to leave for work Saturday morning. “She never seemed like she had any negativity. This comes as a shock to everyone.”


    Zumiez chief executive Rick Brooks said in a statement that the company is “deeply saddened by the violence” at the store. “The Zumiez team is a tight knit community and all of our hearts go out to Brianna and Tyler’s families,” he said.


    Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) lamented the deaths in a statement, expressing his “deepest condolences to the families of the victims and all those affected by this senseless act of violence.

    Protecting the public’s safety is our most solemn obligation.”

    At the suburban mall, a quiet Saturday turned to terror as the blasts jolted shoppers and employees, who hit the floor and scrambled into stores.

    “It was pretty freaky,” said Robert Ashton, a 49-year-old Californian on a business trip to Maryland. He said he and two companions were in the first-floor food court, directly beneath Zumiez, when the shooting occurred. “You see these things on TV all the time,” he said.

    “But you never think you’re going to be in the middle of it.”


    Ashton said he heard a boom from above that sounded like a table falling over. And then came more booms, at least three, he said. “We took off running” and found shelter at a Chick-fil-A with other mall patrons, including a woman with two toddlers and another with three children. They hid for about 45 minutes until police arrived.


    Roger Aseneta, a manager at Auntie Anne’s pretzel shop, said he heard what he knew were gunshots about 11:15 a.m. He ushered his employees inside and locked the doors behind them. They went into a backroom where, on a surveillance camera, they could see people running in the food court outside.


    “It’s a case of people running for safety,” he said. “It’s a really terrible thing. I never thought I would experience this. . . . I was shaking.”


    Aseneta, 52, said he heard five or six shots. And “I heard screaming,” he said in the parking lot, still in a white Auntie Anne’s apron.


    At 12:30 p.m., police led frightened shoppers and workers from the mall entrance at the food court. Many were coatless, and those without cars were ushered, many shivering and some holding babies, into warm vans from Howard and Anne Arundel county fire departments. Some held hands and were crying.


    Police officers guarded each entrance off Little Patuxent Parkway to keep people from the nearly empty parking lots. Police said the mall will be closed Sunday.


    Laura McKindles said she heard eight to 10 shots as she worked a booth on the second level overlooking the food court.


    “People were yelling, ‘Someone’s got a gun!’ ” she said. “They were screaming.”


    She said she ran across the corridor and into a perfume store, where she hid in a backroom for about 90 minutes until police gave the all-clear. She was with three other workers from her stall and from the store. “I was praying,” she said. “I was thinking about my family, my dog.” She had left her cellphone behind and couldn’t call anyone to tell them she was okay until after she got out.


    “I think this country is in a lot of trouble,” said McKindles, who recently moved to Columbia from north of Baltimore. “I mean, what possesses someone to, on a Saturday afternoon, in this cold, to come to a mall and shoot people?


    “Why? I just can’t understand what motivates that.”

    Lori Aratani, Lynh Bui, Alice Crites, Jennifer Jenkins

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/police-id-assailant-in-columbia-mall-shooting/2014/01/26/e9cf39ec-8696-11e3-916e-e01534b1e132_story.html
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  2. #2
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    The police have identified the gunman who killed two people and injured five more in a Maryland mall shooting Saturday before killing himself.

    Howard County Police Chief Bill McMahon identified the shooter Sunday as Darion Marcus Aguilar,19, from suburban Washington. He said Aguilar used a 12-gague shot gun during the incident and 16 shots were fired.


    Last edited by JohnDoe2; 01-26-2014 at 11:32 PM.
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  3. #3
    Super Moderator Newmexican's Avatar
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    The victims were
    Tyler Johnson, victim of shooting at The Mall in Columbia


    The young man in the above picture is Tyler Johnson one of the victims. The other victim was Brianna Benlolo






    This is Aguilar



    Shooter Was Reported Missing On Saturday Updated: Sunday, January 26 2014, 07:55 PM EST

    Darion Aguilar, the suspected shooter at the Mall in Columbia, was reported missing by his mother on Saturday afternoon.

    Prince George's County Police were called to Aguilar's house around 1:40pm Saturday, hours after the shooting had taken place. Police then notified Regional Investigation Division investigators who talked with Aguilar's mother and looked through his journal. Police became concerned for Aguilar's safety after reading certain parts of his journal.

    Investigators began a search for him including tracking his cell phone to the Columbia area. Once realizing Aguilar's phone was in the Mall in Columbia, investigators notified Howard County Police. Soon they determined Aguilar was the missing person and the gunman who shot two people before turning the gun on himself. Police are still searching for a motive. Anyone with information is asked to contact Howard County Police.


    Read More at: http://foxbaltimore.com/news/feature...ay-24948.shtml
    Last edited by Newmexican; 01-26-2014 at 10:07 PM.

  4. #4
    Super Moderator Newmexican's Avatar
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    No known relationship between Maryland mall shooter, victims, police chief says

    Howard County Police
    Columbia Mall shooting suspect Darion Marcus Aguilar, 19, of Hollywood Road in College Park, Md.

    By Elisha Fieldstadt, NBC News

    Authorities on Sunday identified the gunman who shot and killed two skate store employees at a Maryland shopping mall Saturday.

    Official said Darion Marcus Aguilar, 19, of College Park, Md., a manager at a Dunkin’ Donuts who had no criminal record, was behind the rampage that claimed the lives of two employees at a Zumiez store Saturday.

    Authorities believe Aguilar, armed with a Mossberg shotgun and “a large amount of ammunition” opened fire in the store in a shopping mall in Columbia, Md., near Baltimore, before killing himself, Howard County, Md., Chief of Police Bill McMahon said Sunday.

    The victims have been identified by police as Brianna Benlolo, 21, of College Park, Md., and Tyler Johnson, 25, of Mount Airy, Md. The male shooter, whose body was found nearby, had a shotgun and ammunition on him, McMahon said.

    Although one of the victims lives in the same town as the suspect, police said there was no immediate connection between the two. At a Sunday evening news conference, McMahon said police have interviewed family and associates but have found “no known relationship between the victims and our shooter.”

    "We want to find out why this occurred,” McMahon said at an earlier news briefing. “We still have some unanswered questions.”
    He added that authorities are reviewing evidence seized from the shooter’s home — including a journal in which Aguilar “does express some general unhappiness with his life.”

    McMahon said that surveillance video showed Aguilar was dropped off by a cab at the Mall in Columbia on Saturday. His mother reported him missing a few hours before the shooting, according to Howard County Police.

    McMahon said Aguilar made “very limited movement” during the hour he spent in the mall before he fired between 6-8 shots.

    “We’re still working to determining exactly where all those shots went,” McMahon said. One person suffered a gunshot wound to the foot, and four others were injured during the chaos. All five were treated and released from the hospital Saturday night, according to Howard County General Hospital.

    McMahon also said that Aguilar had bought the Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun in Montgomery County Md., in December.

    The state of Maryland does not regulate gunshot sales but stipulates that shotguns cannot be sold to a person under the age of 18, and federal law requires for the buyer to pass a background check. Howard County Police told NBC News that Aguilar purchased the firearm legally.

    It took several hours to identify the gunman since he was carrying ammunition and a backpack and police thought he may have had explosives. "When we originally found the shooter, he still had a lot of ammunition on his person," McMahon said.

    Police said they disabled crude attempts at homemade explosive devices inside the shooter's bag.

    Investigators searched the mall and Aguilar’s body for any other explosives, but did not find anything more.

    McMahon also said police did find ammunition in Aguilar’s home, where he lived with his mother. Investigators also seized computers and documents, McMahon said.

    The Associated Press reported that Aguilar’s home is a two-story house in a “middle-income neighborhood,” where some University of Maryland students live just two miles away from the campus.
    University of Maryland Chief Communications Officer Crystal Brown said that Aguilar never attended the school.

    Aguilar was accepted to Montgomery College in February 2013 but never registered for classes and never attended, said Elizabeth S. Homan, director of communications at the community college in the suburbs of Washington D.C.

    When he applied, Aguilar indicated he would graduate from James Hubert Blake High School in Rockville Md., Homan told NBC News. Dana Tofig, a spokeswoman for Montgomery County Public Schools, confirmed that Aguilar attended high school at Blake.

    Tydryn Scott, 19, was Aguilar's lab partner at Blake and told the AP he was tall, skinny and quiet. Another student described him as an avid skateboarder.

    "It was really hurtful, like, wow — someone that I know, someone that I've been in the presence of more than short amounts of time. I've seen this guy in action before. Never upset, never sad, just quiet, just chill," Scott said. "If any other emotion, he was happy, laughing."

    The mall remained closed Sunday as police continued to search for a motive in the deadly slayings. Mall officials announced on Twitter Sunday night that the 200-store shopping center will reopen at 1 p.m. on Monday.

    Howard County Executive Ken Ulman said at the Sunday evening news briefing that the mall will have two memorial sites Monday — one outside the entrance and another inside the shopping complex.
    McMahon called the mall "the main street for Columbia," adding that the closed shopping center would not only economically impact the community of less than 100,000, but would likely also have a deep psychological impact on residents.

    When the mall does reopen, McMahon said grief counselors would be on site and “we will ensure that we have a strong police presence here so that people will feel comfortable and safe.”

    http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2014...lite&gt1=43001




  5. #5
    Super Moderator Newmexican's Avatar
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    Moved to Other Topics - not related to immigration or political races.

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