Originally published on November 5, 2013
A gunman is still at large after opening fire at the Westfield Garden State Plaza Mall in Paramus, New Jersey, on Monday evening.
According to reports, the gunman was wearing a leather jacket, a full face helmet, a backpack and armor and was carrying a rifle.
Witnesses said they heard 6 or 7 gunshots at around 9:20 p.m. and that the shooter fired at security cameras, CNN reported.
Another witness told News 12 that the gunman was "shooting at random stuff."
The police presence at the mall was heavy, with dozens of cruisers converging outside the building.
The FBI, including an FBI SWAT team, was also at the scene.
According to News 12, customers inside the mall were reportedly ordered to drop to the floor, and lights inside stores were turned off.
Thousands of people shopping, dining and at movie theaters were then evacuated from the mall. According to Reuters, police were moving from store to store to remove employees and patrons.
"It was frantic. Absolutely chaos," said Najee Waters, 19, of East Rutherford, New Jersey.
According to Reuters he was at his sales job at an H&M clothing store when the shooting happened. He then followed a practiced store emergency plan and rushed to a break room at the back of the store, where other workers gathered before dashing out to the parking lot.
No injuries have been reported so far.
At around 11:30 p.m. it appeared that the gunman had left the building, NJ News reported.
The incident comes two months after a group of al Qaeda-linked militants launched an attack on a mall in Nairobi that killed 67 people.
Owned by Australia's Westfield Group, the Garden State Plaza mall is one of five large malls in Paramus and a key shopping destination in the New York Metropolitan area.
--------------------------------------------------------
TomoNews is your daily source for top animated news. We've combined animation and video footage with a snarky personality to bring you the
