Page 5 - Paramus Mall News Today

On the phone is eddie commonen. what have you seen and heard? >> i heard six or seven gunshots around like 9:20 p.m. i walked out of the store to see what was going on and there was just people running like crazy. i quickly closed my door and ran to the back and turned off the lights and music. >> thats where you are currently now inside the mall? >> yes. told by police officers not to move. >> so you have seen police on the scene? >> yes. >> can you say where you heard the shots emanating from?...

>> they werent rapid at all. one and 30 seconds later, another one. it wasnt one right after the other. it was like a shotgun sound. >> did you know right away what it was, that it was shots? >> no. at first i thought a construction crew dropped something or something like that. and then when they started seeing hearing it again and people starting running and things getting louder thats when i figured out what it was. so i closed my doors to hide. >> what time does the mall close there? >> 9:30...

Usually you have an address of somewhere you can do, track that person down and get at them before something happens. its basically what might have happened here. >> how common is it that people come to the police in advance and say so-and-so have been saying weird things, they struggle with drugs, theyre disturbed, theyre isolated. how often does that happen. >> not off at at uhl. i never had it happen to me at paul. >> we do the say something, see something with packages, is that an area we ne...

Which apparently the shooter was trying to eliminate. one young man who was hiding in the stores who said there are a lot of video cameras throughout the mall. there are a lot of cameras to check. that might give them a sense of where the shooter went. all of the eyewitnesss and all those who heard the shots have told us it all seemed to emanate from the area around the nordstroms. even people in the parking lot heard shots from inside the nordstrom. whether that occurred inside the store or ins...

You look down at buildings half the height of the empire state building. >> just even getting that formula one car up there is a feat in itself. >> its high. thats the point. take it any way you want. coming up on "new day," we are watching two developing stories. an armed gunman dead inth in nj after opening fire at a mall and in denver, teens are now in custody after a tense standoff with police. thats a developing story. well take you to it.

Running from the mall entrance into the center of the mall. i called for a manager, i called for mercedes and waited for her to come up. we heard two more pops and the mall security ran in and said you guys got to get out. we evacuated everyone that we could. checked up stairs and downstairs. >> how are you feeling after seeing all that? >> it was a bit of a shock, but i really -- i tried to keep my composure. yeah, all you have to do is think about what we need to do now. we you cant worry abou...

Ooert. -- either. >> thats correct at the moment. its a fluid situation. its unclear even as i was arriving there was still many police cars moving into this area, taking up positions. it seems that the security perimeter around this area that has been put in place by mall security people is being pushed back further and further. at the moment the focus is still inside the mall, what is going on precisely is unclear at the moment. >> nic, i spoke to -- or really -- probably at the top of the 10:...

Prevent anyone from exiting or going back in. this is a huge undertake here. you have uniformed police officers who are wearing their kevlar vests who will ultimately be pulled back once the emergency service and the s.w.a.t. guys get in to start doing their searches. the uniformed cops will fill in behind them to security frozen and cleared areas. >> and as we said we see the police cars spread out all throughout this parking lot and to your point they want to make sure if there is a vehicle th...

Authorities say he had a self-inflicted gunshot wound. >> originally from washington township, new jersey, now living in teaneck, new jersey. hes 20 years old. his body was discovered just about an hour ago with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head area. he himself went to the area where he did this. it was a difficult area of the mall, behind some construction. >> reporter: no one else was injured in the shooting. surveillance individuvideo show gunman aimed at security cameras. >> the vi...

You realize you are getting to the crowd and everyone is running out. security are telling you shots fired. what was your reaction? what did you do? >> just started running towards the door. >> when you got outside what happened? >> then all the police started showing up. it was within seconds. the emergency lights going on. and we just -- they just ushered us around the mall. >> the mall security, did they tell you anything? >> they didnt tell us anything. >> from what you could see as you were...