The FBI is assisting local authorities after a shooting at a Spirit Halloween store in a Bay Area shopping center left one person dead and six others wounded Friday evening.
The FBI’s Sacramento field office said early Saturday that its Evidence Response Team was sent to Solano Town Center on Gateway Boulevard to help the Fairfield Police Department process the extensive crime scene. The mall is about 45 miles northeast of San Francisco.
Police were dispatched to the store at approximately 8:30 p.m., authorities said.
Responding officers found seven people suffering from gunshot injuries.
One victim died at the scene. The six other victims were transported to nearby hospitals, and at least three were still listed in critical condition Saturday.
The suspected gunman escaped before officers arrived and had not been captured.
Fairfield Police Chief Dan Marshall said investigators had yet to establish the number of rounds fired, determine whether the shooting was deliberately aimed at specific victims, or confirm whether a single suspect or several suspects were involved.
Officials said they did not believe the public faced an ongoing danger. However, the shopping center remained an active investigation site Saturday while detectives interviewed witnesses and searched for leads in the hunt for the shooter.
“This is still a very active crime scene. Detectives are speaking with witnesses and diligently working to identify the suspect responsible for this horrific shooting,” the Fairfield Police Department said in a statement.
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Police from Suisun City and the California Highway Patrol joined the response, helping establish a security perimeter around the 130-store shopping complex.
Tactical teams cleared portions of the mall, including the nearby Regal Edwards theater. Moviegoers attending an evening showing were questioned as officers conducted security checks from one store to the next.
The Spirit Halloween shop was operating in the space previously occupied by Best Buy.
Witnesses said they heard several shots fired in quick succession, prompting shoppers to flee through the parking lots and nearby mall corridors.
One witness told KCRA that his wife, who was inside the store, described hearing “like five, six, seven shots” as people ran from the building.
Another witness said a store employee escaped into a neighboring restaurant and reported that an armed person had entered the business and begun shooting.
The Fairfield shooting occurred only hours after a separate deadly incident at a Spirit Halloween store in Madison Heights, Michigan. A 21-year-old Detroit man was killed Friday afternoon after an argument with an acquaintance.
Police arrested a 21-year-old Oak Park man who had a concealed pistol license after bystanders stepped in. Michigan authorities said that shooting was targeted and that there was no continuing threat to the community.