Tacoma Mall shooting

The Tacoma Mall shooting was an attempted mass murder that occurred on November 20, 2005, at the Tacoma Mall in Tacoma, Washington, United States. The gunman, Dominick Maldonado, entered the mall with a semi-automatic Norinco MAK-90 rifle and a pistol, injuring six before he instigated four armed kidnappings.

Tacoma Mall shooting
LocationTacoma, Washington, United States
DateNovember 20, 2005
TargetTacoma Mall
Attack type
Attempted mass murder
Weapons
Injured6
PerpetratorDominick Sergio Maldonado

Details

Dominick Maldonado entered the Tacoma shopping mall around 12:15pm, November 20, 2005, and quickly opened fire with an illegally possessed MAK-90 semi-automatic rifle. During the course of the shooting, Brendan (Dan) McKown, a mall employee and a legally armed citizen, intervened. McKown drew his 9 mm CZ pistol but then had second thoughts of shooting "a kid". McKown (with his handgun still holstered)[1] verbally commanded Maldonado to put down his gun. Maldonado's response was to fire on McKown, striking him once in the leg and four times in the torso, damaging McKown's spine and leaving him paralyzed. In addition to McKown, five other people were shot but not seriously injured, and a seventh person received a non-gunshot injury. At least one other person in the mall at the time also pulled a gun on Maldonado, but did not fire for fear of hitting innocent bystanders.[2] No one was killed during the shooting.

Maldonado then took four people hostage in a Sam Goody store, including two employees, a customer, and a 12-year-old boy whom he only briefly held captive before releasing. The hostage situation lasted until four p.m. when Maldonado surrendered to a Tacoma police SWAT team without further incident.[3]

Hostages taken during the incident chronicled their story on Biography Channel's I Survived....

Shooter

The perpetrator in the shootings was 20-year-old Dominick Sergio Maldonado, who had an extensive juvenile criminal record including burglary, theft, and possession of burglary tools. He had also been given a court order not to possess any weapons. At the time of the shooting, Maldonado had recently separated from his girlfriend, and had been using methamphetamine without sleep for almost a week.[4]

Trial and imprisonment

Maldonado was charged with eight counts of first-degree assault, four counts of first-degree kidnapping, and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm. Maldonado pleaded not guilty to the charges and has since been through five different lawyers and three defense teams.[5][6]

Maldonado was convicted on October 2, 2007,[7] and sentenced to 163 years in prison on November 2.[8][9][10] He unsuccessfully attempted to escape from the Clallam Bay Corrections Center on June 29, 2011.[11] During the escape attempt, 25-year-old Dominick Maldonado took a corrections officer hostage using a pair of scissors. Kevin Newland, a second inmate, was shot and killed by a guard after driving a forklift through a set of doors and crashing it into a perimeter fence. [12]

Citing "safety/security concerns", the Washington State Department of Corrections transferred Maldonado to ADX Florence in Colorado on May 11, 2016.

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See also

References
  1. "Dan McKown, one decade later". Retrieved August 10, 2016.
  2. "Mall victim held fire at 'kid'". thenewstribune.com. November 29, 2005. Archived from the original on November 23, 2007. Retrieved November 2, 2007.
  3. "Mall shooting suspect surrenders". CNN.com. November 2, 2007. Retrieved November 6, 2007.
  4. Heffter, Emily; Sommerfeld, Julia; Carter, Mike (November 20, 2005). "Man arrested in Tacoma Mall shooting". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 2, 2007.
  5. "Plea offer for teen that injured seven scorned by defense". KING5.com. March 3, 2006. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved November 6, 2007.
  6. "Fifth lawyer appointed to Tacoma Mall shooter". thenewstribune.com.com. October 16, 2006. Archived from the original on December 9, 2007. Retrieved November 6, 2007.
  7. Tacoma Mall shooter to spend 163 years in prison
  8. "Tacoma Mall Shooter Receives 163-Year Sentence". KIRO7 Eyewitness News. November 2, 2007. Archived from the original on November 4, 2007. Retrieved November 2, 2007.
  9. Tacoma Mall shooter gets 163 year sentence
  10. Pierce County Superior Court Criminal Case 05-1-05774-4
  11. Champaco, Brent (June 29, 2011). "Tacoma Mall Shooter Involved In Attempted Escape At Clallam Bay Prison". Lakewood Patch. Archived from the original on July 3, 2011. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
  12. Washington Department of Corrections

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