The South Shore Plaza has been evacuated and is closed after a man was shot inside the Braintree shopping mall Saturday afternoon. Braintree police said the shooting happened at about 3 pm inside a store on the first floor of the mall. According to police, one man approached another man, brandished a gun and fired. A spokesperson for the Massachusetts State Police said the shooting victim was transported to a Boston hospital with life-threatening injuries. Braintree police said the victim is in serious condition, but did not identify him. Officials said Braintree police officers were at South Shore Plaza when the shooting happened and were quickly joined by additional units, as well as Braintree firefighters, Brewster Ambulance personnel and mutual aid from surrounding departments, including state police and regional SWAT team members. South Shore Plaza was immediately placed on lockdown and a shelter-in-place was issued for the surrounding neighborhood. Braintree Deputy police Chief Timothy Cohoon said the mall has been evacuated and the lockdown has since been lifted, but the mall will remain closed for the remainder of Saturday night.“It looks like a targeted event. It doesn’t appear to be random at all, and at this time, we don’t believe there’s any further danger to the surrounding areas,” Cohoon said. Reports from shoppers about gunfire near the Forever 21 store started surfacing shortly after 3 pm Saturday.”We heard the screams and we heard the trampling of feet. It was like a mass running of kids and adults, and people grabbing everyone that they could, dropping their bags and running in front of my store, which is all glass fronts ,” a woman who works at South Shore Plaza told NewsCenter 5’s Peter Eliopoulos.The suspect is not in custody at this time, according to the state police spokesperson.Cohoon said the suspect likely left the mall immediately after the shooting.“This is unacceptable and we will be working directly with the South Shore Plaza and Simon Properties to come up with solutions to these problems,” said Braintree Mayor Charles Kokoros. “It’s a place that people should be able to go and shop safely, and we should not have gunshots being fired while people are out shopping like we did this afternoon.”The shooting is being investigated by Braintree police and state police detectives assigned to the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office.The Braintree Police Department is asking people to avoid the area of South Shore Plaza.Earlier this month, 22-year-old Jose Rodriguez, of Boston, admitted he opened fire at South Shore Plaza and wounded a 15-year -old girl on July 3, 2020. He pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including armed assault to murder and possession of a large-capacity firearm. In a statement, Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey said Rodriguez punched a woman in line at a store, causing an altercation between parties, and then stepped away, retrieved a loaded firearm he was carrying and fired six times in the thick of the mall. Rodriguez was sentenced to eight years in prison, followed by three years of prob ation.
The South Shore Plaza has been evacuated and is closed after a man was shot inside the Braintree shopping mall Saturday afternoon.
Braintree police said the shooting happened at about 3 pm inside a store on the first floor of the mall. According to police, one man approached another man, brandished a gun and fired.
A spokesperson for the Massachusetts State Police said the shooting victim was transported to a Boston hospital with life-threatening injuries. Braintree police said the victim is in serious condition, but did not identify him.
Officials said Braintree police officers were at South Shore Plaza when the shooting happened and were quickly joined by additional units, as well as Braintree firefighters, Brewster Ambulance personnel and mutual aid from surrounding departments, including state police and regional SWAT team members.
South Shore Plaza was immediately placed on lockdown and a shelter-in-place was issued for the surrounding neighborhood.
Braintree Deputy police Chief Timothy Cohoon said the mall has been evacuated and the lockdown has since been lifted, but the mall will remain closed for the remainder of Saturday night.
“It looks like a targeted event. It doesn’t appear to be random at all, and at this time, we don’t believe there’s any further danger to the surrounding areas,” Cohoon said.
Reports from shoppers about gunfire near the Forever 21 store started surfacing shortly after 3 pm Saturday.
“We heard the screams and we heard the trampling of feet. It was like a mass running of kids and adults, and people grabbing everyone that they could, dropping their bags and running in front of my store, which is all glass fronts,” a woman who works at South Shore Plaza told NewsCenter 5’s Peter Eliopoulos .
The suspect is not in custody at this time, according to the state police spokesperson. Cohoon said the suspect likely left the mall immediately after the shooting.
“This is unacceptable and we will be working directly with the South Shore Plaza and Simon Properties to come up with solutions to these problems,” said Braintree Mayor Charles Kokoros. “It’s a place that people should be able to go and shop safely, and we should not have gunshots being fired while people are out shopping like we did this afternoon.”
The shooting is being investigated by Braintree police and state police detectives assigned to the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office.
The Braintree Police Department is asking people to avoid the area of South Shore Plaza.
Earlier this month, 22-year-old Jose Rodriguez, of Boston, admitted he opened fire at South Shore Plaza and wounded a 15-year-old girl on July 3, 2020. He pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including armed assault to murder and possession of a large-capacity firearm.
In a statement, Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey said Rodriguez punched a woman in line at a store, causing an altercation between parties, and then stepped away, retrieved a loaded firearm he was carrying and fired six times in the thick of the mall.
Rodriguez was sentenced to eight years in prison, followed by three years of probation.
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