SOUTH PORTLAND — Police are searching for a person who shot someone inside the Maine Mall on Wednesday afternoon. First responders brought the victim to Maine Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the leg.
The incident triggered an hourslong lockdown of the mall, during which shoppers and employees sheltered in stores and supply closets. But by the time police arrived, the shooter might have already left the scene, South Portland Police Chief Dan Ahern said in a written statement around 8:30 p.m.
“I would like to thank those officers for their response to what they only knew to be an active shooter at the largest mall in Maine,” Ahern said. “It was not until first units arrived that we determined this to be an isolated incident between two individuals and that the shooter may have already exited the mall.”
After a “methodical search,” all law enforcement units had cleared the mall several hours after the lockdown, he said.
Surveillance video shows that the suspect left through the food court exit at around 3:45 p.m., city spokesperson Shara Dee said around 9:40 p.m. in an email response to questions about the sequence of events. Police first announced the incident and lockdown on Facebook shortly after 4 p.m.
South Portland Police said the public should continue avoiding the area Wednesday night. The shooting appears to be an “isolated incident” and police do not believe the public is at risk, according to a city announcement.
The department shared photos of the suspect and said anyone who sees them should call 911 and not approach the person. Dee said the department only saw the suspect on camera footage and did not not know their identity Wednesday night.
The victim was in surgery and “expected to survive,” Ahern said.
Police first issued an alert shortly after 4 p.m., urging locals to avoid the mall. Within the hour, Gov. Janet Mills posted on X that Mainers should “follow the instructions of law enforcement and to avoid the area until otherwise instructed.”
All South Portland Police units descended on the mall, where they were assisted by officers from 10 other agencies, including the Maine State Police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Ahern said.
HEAVY POLICE PRESENCE
A South Portland Police Department forensics truck pulled up near the JC Penney entrance around 5 p.m., joining dozens of law enforcement vehicles that were scattered throughout the parking lot by the food court and blocked the roads in and out of the lot.
A few minutes later, near the food court entrance on the other side of the mall, police officers wearing tactical gear and carrying long guns stepped into the building.
A handful of people walked out of the food court doors, as those told to shelter were released in small groups.
A pair of German foreign exchange students stepped out of the food court entrance at around 5:30 p.m. They ducked under the police line, then stepped back to take a photo from behind the yellow tape.
One of them, Niklas Germann, a student at Bonny Eagle High School, said they were in a changing room when the mall went into lockdown. He said they “saw nothing.”
“You hear stories from America of shootings, school shootings,” he said. “But only hearing it from TV or stories. And now I’m in (it) — that’s crazy.”
Stacie Estrella, a traveling nurse from Texas who is currently working at Maine Medical Center, said in Facebook messages to a reporter that she was sheltering in place inside the Old Navy and was let out around 6:30 p.m. She said she had been able to hear the department’s K-9 dogs barking while inside.
Outside the mall, several people filmed the police presence from their parked cars. A group of teenage boys put out messages on social media, encouraging friends to come see the scene in person.
Though police had appeared to block the exits to the parking lot, vehicles continued to pour in during the lockdown. Would-be-shoppers and app-based delivery drivers attempted to approach the mall, asking whether it was still open. There were at least two collisions between cars in the parking lot as people attempted to evacuate.
‘SLOW CHECK’ OF STORES
Betty Tundel, of Windham, stepped out of the food court entrance around 6:15 p.m. carrying a bag from Soma. She spent much of the early evening waiting in the shop’s back storage room, she said.
“I just came over to do a quick errand,” Tundel said. “We didn’t know what was happening.”
She and a handful of others in the room joined in prayer. She said the situation could have turned out much worse.
The storage room did not have locking doors or a way to peer outside, but a friend outside the mall fed her details over the phone, she said.
As she evacuated the building, Tundel said she saw food scattered through the food court and thought “it must have been very frightening, because that was nearby what was happening.”
Officers were still inside the building more than two hours after their initial response, along with some shoppers who sheltered inside. Around 6:45 p.m., Dee said police transitioned from a “slow check” of each store to an evacuation. The mall made an announcement to all stores that the employees could leave through the food court entrance, she said.
No other information about the incident has been released. A spokesperson for the mall said they could not comment.
South Portland police asks anyone with information about the suspect or this shooting to contact Detective Lt. Christopher Todd at 207-799-5511 Ext. 7448 or [email protected], or leave an anonymous tip at 207-347-4100.
