By Jessica Flores
Source San Francisco Chronicle
Police on Tuesday continued to investigate a shooting that set off chaos at the Westfield Oakridge mall in San Jose on Monday evening, with employees and shoppers huddling in storage rooms for safety while officers responded.
Police said they found evidence that a shooting had occurred at the mall on Monday, according to a news release. But after "multiple hours" of searching for a victim and suspect while shoppers and mall workers sheltered in place, the search was called off.
"We did not locate a shooting victim, although more than one caller had reported that a person had been shot," police said in a statement.
At about 5:38 p.m. Monday, police said they received several reports of gunfire near the Forever 21 store inside the mall and at least one person who had been shot.
Police responded as if there could be an active shooter inside the mall, but later confirmed that no gunfire was occurring, according to the news release.
"As the search was occurring, we were also assisting with egress from the mall," the release said.
At a news conference Monday night, San Jose police spokesman Sgt. Christian Camarillo said the shooting appeared to have been the result of an altercation between two people in the mall. One person "produced a handgun and did fire some rounds at this victim, who we still have not located either," he said.
The investigation was ongoing Tuesday, and anyone with information was asked to contact the San Jose detective bureau at 408-277-3835.
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