Destiny USA reopens after safety concerns; Person taken into custody

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – UPDATE:

Syracuse Police say the person arrested in connection with this incident is 50-year-old Darrell Anderson Navedo of Syracuse. Navedo was arrested and charged with making a terroristic threat.

After being closed for several hours, Destiny USA has reopened to the public.

Syracuse Police say they were alerted to a specific threat to Destiny USA in the early hours of Friday, December 27th. Working closely with local, state and federal partners as well as Destiny USA management, it was quickly determined that this information was both specific and actionable. Therefore, with the safety of the public in mind, a decision has been made in collaboration with Destiny USA ownership to suspend Destiny USA operations based on the information received.

After an investigation, police said one person was taken into custody without incident. There is no active threat to Destiny USA and the mall will reopen.

Syracuse police said the evacuation was a “volatile situation.” As information became available, the decision was made to postpone the mall’s opening out of an abundance of caution. Through our emergency messaging system, tenants were asked to close their gates and delay opening around normal opening hours. Shelter-in-place has not been initiated. There was also no evacuation of tenant employees. It was just a delayed opening of the mall.

Syracuse Police Chief Joe Cecile said the following:

“A person who threatened that he would come to the mall and do something. We’re keeping it very vague now because we have him in custody and I don’t want to give anything away that would jeopardize that.” But when we received the threat and realized it was specific and actionable, we put together a team of partners and took action We also reached out to management to come up with a plan, and that plan was to put public safety over profits.

ORIGINAL:

Syracuse Police said Destiny USA has temporarily closed to the public out of an abundance of caution as Syracuse Police and other law enforcement partners investigate a potential threat. The safety of visitors, employees and tenants remains the top priority for the SPD.

Police say they are working closely with law enforcement partners to ensure a thorough and quick resolution. Updates on the situation and the mall’s reopening will be provided as it becomes available.