The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department released more information on the shooting at The Oaks Mall in Thousand Oaks, California on Saturday afternoon.
According to the Associated Press, Ventura County fire Captain Steve Swindle said a gunman shot a killed a female victim at the mall, then turned the gun on himself. He was taken to a nearby hospital with a gunshot wound, and that there was no active threat to the public.
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According to Garo Kuredjian of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, the victim was a 30-year-old woman and the shooter was a 33-year-old man. While their identities have not been released, the two were a divorced couple with children in common.
The sheriff’s department received a call of shots fired at the mall inside the Paper Source Store, where the victim reportedly worked. When deputies arrived they found the victim was already dead and the suspect was “gravely injured” as a result of a gunshot wound. The gun was recovered at the scene.
Shoppers were ordered to evacuate and move to a safety zone across the street as armed police entered the mall to assess the situation. No one else was harmed or fired at during the shooting.
Jeffrey Simpson, a 17-year-old shopping at the mall with his mother, told ABC News that an announcement came over the intercom following the shooting, ordering all remaining shoppers to stay inside the department stores while the situation was being assessed.
“I went to Nordstrom to get pants, and the next thing I know, the doors are being sealed,” Simpson said.
Simpson said the shoppers were kept inside the mall for over an hour until police declared the area safe. While he and his mother were ” a little shaken,” he said employees were helpful in keeping people inside the mall calm.
Shoppers who escaped the mall prior to the scene being closed off by police were instructed to seek safety at the fire station across the street.
Dan Beaton, who was at the Vans store next to Paper Source at the time of the shooting, told NBC4, ran into the back room of the store before employees locked the doors.
“It sounded like balloons or firecrackers… we didn’t know what was going on,” Beaton said.
Portions of the mall reopened and were back in business by 4 p.m. The open air portion of the mall where the Paper Source store is reportedly remains close as police continue their investigation.
