Suspect on the Loose After Mall Shooting Outside Pittsburgh

Two people were in critical condition, police said.

ByABC News
February 7, 2015, 8:26 PM
Police vehicles line up outside Monroeville (Pa) Mall Saturday, Feb. 7 2015, after a shooting took place inside. As many as three people were injured.
Police vehicles line up outside Monroeville (Pa) Mall Saturday, Feb. 7 2015, after a shooting took place inside. As many as three people were injured.
Bill Wade/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/AP Photo

— -- Three people were shot at the Monroeville Mall outside Pittsburgh, Pa., this evening and the suspect was still on the loose late this evening, police said.

According to the Monroeville Police Department, the mall was put on lockdown as police investigated. After it was searched twice and cleared, the lockdown was lifted.

Of the three people shot -- two male and one female -- two were in critical condition, Monroeville Police Chief Doug Cole said, though he did not specify which of the victims those were.

It appeared that the shooter targeted the victims, Cole said, but said it did not appear that a fight led to shooting.

Monroeville Mayor Gregory Erosenko said police don't yet know what led to the incident, which occurred around 7:45 p.m.

"This is private property. We're there to serve them and help them but they certainly will dictate where we go from here," he said.

He said the mall, though private, is heavily policed.

"When people want to do something bad, I could have a 100 cops down there and it's just the way it is," he said.

Witness Josh Vehar told ABC that he saw a group of kids standing around and saw a young male holding a black gun from that first group fire six or seven shots at another group of young people.

He said he was was 20 to 30 feet away from the shooting at the Mr. Roger's Neighborhood Play area in the mall with his 5-year-old daughter, and other children were playing at the time shots fired.

"I watched this kid pull his gun out and when he pulled the gun out, he just started firing," Vehar said. "He shot like 6, 7 times and then it just turned into pandemonium after that."