A man with a shotgun was taken into custody Friday after a standoff in a parking lot at the Mall of America, authorities said.
According to the Bloomington Police Department, crisis negotiators were called to the location, and the man was arrested near American Boulevard and 24th Avenue in the Minneapolis suburb.
The standoff began shortly after 4 p.m. A 911 caller said the man had a large gun in the parking lot and entered a tent for the Royal Canadian International Circus, which is set up in the lot, the Star Tribune reported.
According to Bloomington police, officers arrived to find a man in the parking lot with a shotgun, which he refused to drop when authorities requested him to.
People were evacuated from the tent and a nearby hotel. Officers spoke with the man’s family members, who stated that he was experiencing a mental health crisis.
Crisis negotiators attempted to persuade him to surrender, but at about 6:15 p.m., he went to his vehicle and refused to exit, according to police. According to the Star Tribune, the man stepped out of his SUV about a half hour later, and when two shots rang out, he fell to the ground and yelled.
Officers handcuffed the man, who was alive and moving. The man, who was not immediately identified, was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, the Star Tribune reported.
During the standoff, shoppers could not enter the parking lot, and adjacent roads were closed but reopened once the siege ended.
One mall entrance was closed while police dealt with the individual, according to Mall of America spokesman Laura Utecht, but the mall remained open.
