AVENTURA, Fla. – A crew in hazmat suits cleaned up blood from inside the Nordstrom store at Aventura Mall six hours after a Friday morning shooting left two people wounded. Meanwhile, detectives are combing surveillance video and any other close-circuit cameras that may have caught what happened just after 11 a.m. inside the store.
The call came in at about 11:20 a.m. Friday. Two people were shot inside the store on the first floor near the men’s department after an apparent argument between a group of four people that knew each other.
Aventura police have two people in custody. Of the two in custody, Local 10 learned that only one of them was the shooter. At this point, it is not known what they were arguing about or why the shooting started.
#AventuraPolice The @AventuraMall is open at this time. Nordstrom will remain closed until we are able to clear the scene. Their is no ongoing threat to anyone at this time. Due to the quick response by all those involved, no employees or bystanders were injured. @cityofaventura pic.twitter.com/koCNyHTiSN
— Aventura Police (@aventurapolice) May 29, 2020
Sky 10 was above the scene as two ambulances rushed the victims to nearby Aventura Medical Center.
One of the victims is in critical condition after undergoing surgery and the other is stable condition, Local 10 learned.
“Our thoughts are with them and their families,” a statement from a Nordstrom representative said. “No other customers or employees were injured.”
Investigators are still sorting out details, but Aventura Police sergeant Hans Maestre said that Aventura police officers immediately chased the shooting suspect, apprehended him and secured the scene. It is unclear when the other suspect was taken into custody.
A SWAT team, Miami-Dade police’s Priority Response Team, were geared up with long guns searching the nearby parking garage for any other suspects, but that ended quickly when it was determined the shooting was an isolated incident.
“At no time was the general public in danger," Maestre said. It was not a random shooting inside the mall. “We really don’t know what the motive of the confrontation was at this time.”
Aventura Police posted on its Twitter account that "this was an argument between four individuals and not related to anything else.”
#AventuraPolice Todays incident @AventuraMall was quickly addressed by Nordstrom security #AventuraMall security and @aventurapolice officers assigned to the mall leading to a quick arrest. This was an argument between 4 individuals & not related to anything else.@cityofaventura pic.twitter.com/zYjqmJymQe
— Aventura Police (@aventurapolice) May 29, 2020
They also stated that the incident “was quickly addressed by Nordstrom security, Aventura Mall security and officers assigned to the mall, leading to a quick arrest.”
A car parked on the other side of the mall was seen being towed away as part of the investigation.
As of Friday evening, there had been no formal charges made.
The store had just opened at 11 a.m. and there not many shoppers were inside. Maestre noted: “The current (coronavirus) crisis may have helped us. There weren’t many people present at the time of the incident."