Suspect goes on criminal shopping, shooting spree in Puyallup mall

It was a shooting spree and a shopping spree for a burglar early Tuesday morning at the South Hill Mall in Puyallup.

After breaking into the building in the early Tuesday morning hours, a 22-year-old man went from store-to-store in the empty mall, window shopping — then he shot out those windows with a firearm.

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“It looks like the suspect made entry sometime earlier this morning and was going through the mall, shooting out store fronts to gain entry, and was gathering items, and bringing them out to his vehicle,” said Puyallup Police Captain Ryan Portmann.

“The fact he was shooting windows out, it appears to be kind of hasty on his behalf,” he said. “He certainly could have chosen a more discrete manner of entering the stores and drawn less attention to himself.”

It is unknown how long the man was inside the mall before police were called shortly before 6 a.m. for reports of shots fired.

“As officers arrived, the suspect had just shot out the front doors to one of the Macy’s entrances,” Portmann said. “The suspect ran through the parking lot and was taken into custody. No shots were fired by the officers.”

Shots were fired by the suspect as he left the store.

“There were employees who were arriving at work, so in addition to the initial call of shots fired, we received additional calls of shots fired,” he said, noting that employees arrive as early as 6 a.m., and a mall walking program begins at 7 a.m.

“Clearly, he timed this to be before any employees were on scene,” he added.

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Captain Portmann says that detectives are still investigating the incident. What they currently know is that the suspect likely gained entry to the mall via the roof. Police do not yet know how many stores were affected by the spree. No one was injured. South Hill Mall will not open on time and will remain closed until police finish their initial investigation.

The 22-year-old suspect is from Milton. He was arrested for burglary, but Portmann says that he could potentially be charged with unlawful possession of a firearm (depending on his status) among other additional charges. Police will be looking into his background as the investigation continues. Detectives will also review surveillance video from the mall.

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