SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A 21-year-old gunman shot another man in the leg during a fight in a crowded mall on Black Friday, then tried to drive a friend who had been stabbed during the fight to the hospital, police said Saturday.
But the gunman, Kyree Truax, hit a bus on the way to the hospital after the shooting at the Destiny USA mall, police told the Post-Standard.
Truax then followed the ambulance that took his friend to the hospital and was arrested.
“I recognized Truax as the shooter,” Detective Andrew Rawson wrote in a police report.
Black Friday shoppers posted on social media about hiding inside stores after the gunfire rang out shortly after 7 p.m. Friday.
Police Chief Kenton Buckner said officers responded to the shooting near the mall’s food court within seconds.
Buckner said Truax and the man he shot “had some sort of dispute with each other.” He said the 20-year-old shooting victim was hit twice in the leg. His injuries are not considered life-threatening.
Truax was arrested on charges of assault, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment. It’s not clear if he has an attorney who can comment on his behalf.
Destiny USA general manager Robert Schoeneck, who joined Buckner at a news conference Saturday, said the orderly evacuation of the mall was a testament to good planning by the mall and its tenants.
“We have planned for these types of events for years,” Schoeneck said. “We practice about every two months.”