Christmas Eve Shooting at Colorado Mall Leaves 1 Dead and 3 Injured

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A man was fatally shot and three people were hurt as gunfire rang out at a shopping center in Colorado on Christmas Eve, police said Sunday.

A fight broke out between two groups of people in the afternoon at the Citadel Mall in Colorado Springs and officers received a report of gunshots and responded, the Colorado Springs Police Department said.

One adult male was dead at the scene with a gunshot wound, and two more people, who were shot at least once, were taken to hospitals, where they were in stable but serious conditions Monday, police said.

A woman was also taken to a hospital with what were said to be minor injuries.

Police initially said they had detained “multiple people” and were “working to determine their involvement.” However, they said Monday that no arrests have been made.

The mall was cleared and closed, police said, and there was no known threat to the community on Monday.

Colorado Springs, about 71 miles (114 kilometers) south of Denver, is Colorado`s second-largest city — and where five people were killed in a November 2022 shooting at an LGBTQ+ nightclub.

What exactly motivated the shooter, who didn’t grow up in Colorado Springs and is now serving life in prison, may never be known. But the attack killed five people, wounded 17 others and shattered the sense of safety at Club Q, which served as a refuge for the city’s LGBTQ+ community.

There have been other shootings in recent years at the mall, according to The Gazette of Colorado Springs, including one that broke out during a fight in 2022 that wounded a 12-year-old girl who was a bystander.

Her mother is suing the mall`s owners, alleging they have failed to implement adequate security measures. In the six-and-half years before her daughter was wounded, she says there have been at least six shootings. The owners denied the allegations in a court filing. The girl was shot in the chest and was paralyzed from the waist down, according to the lawsuit.

A telephone message and email sent to mall management on Monday was not immediately returned.