Police: 1 dead, several injured in Christmas Eve shooting at Colorado mall

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV/Gray News) - As many finished their last-minute holiday shopping on Christmas Eve, gunshots rang out through a Colorado mall, leaving one person dead and several others injured.

Police say two groups of people started fighting around 4:30 p.m. Sunday inside Citadel Mall in Colorado Springs when gunshots rang out. One man died, and two other men are in serious condition after suffering gunshot wounds, KKTV reports.

A woman also suffered injuries in the incident, but police say she was not shot.

Moments before the shooting, people were finishing their shopping before celebrating Christmas with their families.

Two shoppers, Dionne and Travis, said they were checking out in Burlington when they heard the shots.

“I heard, like, four at first, and then, I see everybody running from the play gym area,” Travis said, “and they were telling everyone to get out. That’s when they just unleashed. I don’t know how many gunshots there were after that.”

Dionne and Travis were close enough to an exit in Burlington where escape was possible. But, elsewhere in the mall, many others were forced to shelter and barricade themselves.

Heather Cunningham said she was with Scott Warburton as she searched for new shoes for her son. They were in the Vans store, deeper in the mall, when they heard a commotion upstairs.

“I thought maybe there was some fighting or something going on,” said Cunningham, remembering hearing people running and screaming. “They said, ‘Something’s going on. Everybody, get in the back.’ The Vans employees were fantastic. They got us in the back of the store right away, locked everything, put the bolts on, and we were in the back, huddled back there, being quiet.”

She said they eventually had to move, realizing the back of the store was next to the hallway and that, should there be gunfire, bullets could easily find their way through the wall and into the room.

“It was so scary. I could still hear screaming and running outside of the Vans store,” Cunningham said. “But we’re safe and thankful, thankful to be safe tonight.”

The mall was cleared and closed, and police say there is no ongoing threat to the community.

While no one is in custody yet, police say they have multiple people detained, as they continue to investigate. They are asking any witnesses or anyone else with information to call the police department or Crime Stoppers.

Police add that the mall will reopen Tuesday, as originally planned, after the holiday.

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