A 15-year-old boy died Friday after he was shot in the parking lot of Northtown Mall in Blaine, authorities said.
Officers and first responders were called to the mall at about 5:15 p.m. and performed lifesaving measures on the boy before he was taken to the hospital, where he later died, according to a statement from Cmdr. Wayne Heath of the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office.
On Saturday evening, authorities identified the victim as Sudais Abdi Omar of Brooklyn Park.
Three males were spotted running from the scene after the shots were fired. Authorities were able to detain one of them — a 20-year-old who has not yet been formally charged — but haven’t yet found the other two.
Last September, shots were fired outside the mall, forcing a lockdown at the shopping center. No one was hurt in that shooting, which appeared to stem from a dispute between two groups, police said.
A fight during which handguns were flashed broke out in the mall in 2023, and police responded to a fight involving large groups of juveniles at a carnival outside the mall in 2022.
Friday’s shooting is being investigated by the Sheriff’s Office with help from Blaine police and the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office. Other agencies responding to the shooting included the Spring Lake Park-Blaine-Mounds View Fire Department, Allina paramedics and police departments from Spring Lake Park, Fridley, Columbia Heights, Coon Rapids and Lino Lakes.
Brooks Johnson of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.
