It's the reason big mall developers no longer build enclosed shopping malls. Roving mobs of armed, teen-age hooligans are unleashed on the public by parents who are out partying rather than looking after their kids and frighten away paying customers as they loiter and menace. Indianapolis' Circle Centre Mall has been plagued by this problem in recent years. Last night, two teen-agers were shot downtown shortly after the mall closed. The scene was chaotic and restaurant customers were locked down while police worked to secure the scene. WTHR reports:
Two teenagers were shot in separate incidents downtown Saturday night.
Police say a 17-year-old was shot in the foot outside Circle Centre Mall shortly before 9 pm. A suspect ran south on Illinois, but was apprehended a block later at Maryland Street.
The victim of that shooting was taken to the hospital, reportedly in stable condition.
About a half-hour later, a 15-year-old was shot several times near the Panera Bread restaurant. That victim was taken to Wishard Hospital in critical condition. The person responsible for that shooting has not been located.
The shootings happened shortly after the mall closed for the night.
"Typically, this is a very slow time of the year downtown. We do have, on Saturday nights, a lot of young children, kids, juveniles that come down to the mall, unsupervised sometimes. About this time, at 9 o'clock when all this happened, is the mall is shutting down and they are leaving to come to the bus stop or to wait for their rides to pick them up," said IMPD Sgt. Linda Jackson.
Police say it is not clear if the shootings were related. Several downtown streets were closed during the shooting and ongoing investigation. Some restaurants in the area also closed, keeping patrons inside until police could secure the area.
2 comments:
In 2011 and 2012, I predict you will see many more malls go out of business as people conserve their cash, continue to cut down on credit spending, and more retail than ever is conducted much more efficiently on line.
More and more commercial real estate will go vacant.
This weekend I went out to buy a pair of snow boots at Macy's and a couple other shops. None had what I wanted in my size. I spent four hours and a few gallons of gas and bought nothing.
I came home ,and within one half hour, purchased the perfect boots in my size, a cashmere hat, and scarf. My total bill (including shipping) was about 30% less than the mall prices.
The commercial real estate bubble is going to be a big one. I wonder if there will be another Simon bailout.
The sad fact is both these shooting will fade quickly into the back ground with the shooting of Officer David Moore. I wonder how long it will be before they make you pass armed guards and metal detectors to get into Circle Center after dark.
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