No injuries from shooting at Empire Mall; Suspect at large, police say

This story has been updated to include the most current information.

Update from December 6th, 2024, 9:47 p.m.: Meghan Anderson of Sioux Falls was at Empire Mall Friday night with her husband and two young children, stocking up on her stall, Tiny Sparrow Boutique, at Mulberry Market, where she was formerly a co-owner. Mulberry Market moved to Empire Mall in early November.

Around 7 p.m., the family decided to grab something to eat at the food court. Around 7:15 p.m., the family sat down to eat, and Anderson added that it looked like they had been in the food court for a while.

Then Anderson said they heard people running.

Anderson’s husband then said, “I think someone just said gunshots.”

“Everyone was screaming and running, and we were just sitting there like fools asking, ‘What’s going on?'” Anderson said during a phone call Friday evening, shortly after the family returned home.

To Anderson and her family, it seemed like something was actually happening. They thought it was a joke, so they continued their meal, she said.

“Then a lady came by and said, ‘My sister is over there!’ “And someone fired shots and everyone tried to leave,” Anderson said. “She wanted to warn people.”

That’s when Anderson and her husband knew it was real and walked to their car, passing others doing the same thing as mall employees began locking down their stores.

“People left their food and just ran away,” Anderson said.

They remained quiet as they walked toward the exit at Mulberry’s Market and Applebee’s. Anderson said they noticed people were looking toward Macy’s and JCPenny’s.

“We kept telling our 5-year-old, ‘Yeah, come on. Stay up to date with us. Let’s move on. Let’s go,’” Anderson said. “And we just didn’t stop until we got to the car.”

As they got into their car, Anderson checked her phone and found that a nonprofit news outlet in the area had posted on social media about an active shooter at the mall.

They then left the mall, driving past the front and watching the cars drive away with many police cars on site and more on the way.

“We asked ourselves, ‘Is this even real?'” Anderson said. “It was scary to think, ‘What? “Something like this happens in Sioux Falls?'”

Anderson said customers at the mall initially seemed confused by the incident.

“It just didn’t seem like people were really impressed by it,” Anderson said. “I don’t think people really knew what was happening.” It wasn’t like everyone was running. It was like a few groups of people from that area, maybe everyone, ran to the food court.”

Empire Mall manager Dan Gies told the Argus Leader Friday evening that mall officials would share more information Saturday.

Update from December 6th, 2024, 9:17 p.m.: Sioux Falls Police Chief Jon Thum told reporters in a media briefing outside the Empire Mall that police received reports of two to three shots fired at the mall near Zumiez between 7 and 7:30 p.m

“No victims were found at Empire Mall,” Thum said.

There are no reported injuries. However, police found bullet casings at the scene, he said.

Thum said police have trained for such a response in active shooter situations. The SWAT team also responded to the situation.

The suspect, a young man between the ages of 13 and 17, is still at large. Police declined to provide further details but stressed that there is currently no danger to the public.

“There are people who know who did this,” Thum said.

He asked parents to speak to their children who were at the mall Friday evening to see if they knew any details. Thum said he believes the incident was not a coordinated attack on the mall.

First responders had “pretty good information” about where people in the mall had fled to, but were working “slowly and diligently” to clear the mall, which could take “hours,” Thum said.

It is unclear whether the person responsible may still be at the mall at this time or may have left campus. Thum added that the department is working closely with local hospitals to coordinate efforts, but no one with potential injuries had shown up at either Avera Health or Sanford Health locations at the time of the news conference.

“As this is an ongoing investigation, all information must come from the Sioux Falls Police Department,” said Jon Berg, senior media relations specialist.

Thum said there would be no further update from the department Friday evening.

Update from December 6, 2024, 9:09 p.m: A witness at the mall said she heard two gunshots while she was shopping at Macy’s department store.

“We thought someone knocked something over, but after a few seconds we saw people running, so we too ran towards the exit of the Macy’s store,” Lexi Vandehey said in a Facebook message to the Argus Leader.

As Vandehey and her family walked to her car, they saw “over a dozen” police cars pull into the parking lot.

“Very scary and I didn’t expect this to happen tonight,” Vandehey said. “Pray for everyone.”

Update from December 6, 2024, 8:54 p.m.: According to an Argus Leader reporter on the scene, Sioux Falls Police Chief Jon Thum is expected to report the situation to the media around 9:15 p.m.

Previous story: Multiple emergency vehicles responded to the Empire Mall in Sioux Falls Friday evening following reports of an active shooter.

According to the Sioux Falls Police Department call log, police were called to the mall at 7:30 p.m. However, police have not publicly confirmed that there is an active shooter at the mall or whether anyone was injured.

The department split up at 8:30 p.m

Shoppers and employees were advised to shelter in place, according to an Argus Leader reporter who was on scene at the time of the initial response and spoke to a mall employee.

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