GLENDALE — At least three people were shot at the Tanger Outlets in Glendale on Wednesday afternoon.
As of deadline, all were alive but police said at least one victim suffered potentially life-threatening injuries.
During a news briefing at about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, a Glendale Police Department spokeswoman said police were still determining how many shooters and how many victims there were but said there were no outstanding suspects.
“This was a singular incident between two groups of people,” said Officer Tiffany Ngalula. “This was not an active shooter. Again, this was not an active shooter. It was an altercation that occurred between two groups of persons, turned into a physical altercation and then a shooting.”
Glendale police announced the shooting just prior to 3 p.m. Ngalula did not say what the estimated time of the shooting was, but said it was not long before police announced it.
According to the Associated Press, officers from around the region responded after reports of gunfire about 2:40 p.m. in an outdoor courtyard at the Tanger Outlets. The mall is across a parking lot from the Westgate Entertainment District and a few streets away from State Farm Stadium and Gila River Arena.
The three known victims as of Wednesday afternoon were all taken to local hospitals. Ngalula said she did not yet know the identities, ages or genders of the victims but said one was a “small child.” She did not know whether the child was the one with life-threatening injuries.
As of the 4:30 p.m. briefing, Tanger and the neighboring hotels and Westgate Entertainment District were locked down. Police were keeping dozens of shoppers in a Tanger parking lot for questioning.
“As we sort out who was a victim, who was a witness, we’re able to release them,” Ngalula said.
Police were still conducting secondary searches of the shopping center as Ngalula was speaking Wednesday afternoon. She said multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Arizona Department of Public Safety, were assisting Glendale police in the investigation, which was likely to continue through the evening.
Determining if there were any more victims at the shopping center, Ngalula said, goes beyond who has a gunshot wound.
“Anybody who feels like they had a gun pointed at them could be a victim of aggravated assault,” Ngalula said. “So, we have to talk to each individual, and there are hundreds of people here, before we can identify if they were a potential victim, if anybody has any other types of injuries. They may not be gunshot wounds. There might have been some sort of physical altercation.”
Police did not say which store or stores the shooting happened in or near, but Ngalula said it occurred at “the center of the shopping plaza.”
The shooting comes nearly two years after a gunman injured three in a rampage at Westgate.
The 20-year-old suspect in that shooting, Armando Hernandez, reportedly walked through the entertainment district, returned to his car to make a social media video and loaded three rifle magazines. Glendale police said the gunman filmed the attack while holding a cellphone with his left hand and blasting away with the rifle in his right hand.
Hernandez has pleaded not guilty. His case is scheduled for trial in June.
Tanger Outlets is southwest of 95th and Glendale Avenues.
Mark Carlisle can be reached at mcarlisle@iniusa.org or found on Twitter @mwcarlisle. The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Mark Carlisle Associate Editor | Phoenix @mwcarlisle
Mark Carlisle joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2017, covering Glendale. He has since moved to the Daily Independent team, primarily covering the city of Phoenix along with other topics affecting the Valley at-large.
Community: Mark enjoys taking his young son to BabyTime at the Phoenix Public Library, to the OdySea Aquarium and to various sporting events around the Valley.
Education: Chapman University with a BA in English Journalism and one in Screenwriting.
Random Fact: Mark worked at a tuxedo shop in college. Just don’t ask him to tie a bowtie.
Hobbies: Spending time with his wife, son and dog, watching sports and TV shows, listening to audiobooks and occasionally writing fiction or designing a board game.
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