Suspect's vehicle found miles away after man shot at Harford Mall

BALTIMORE — A man was injured in a shooting Sunday afternoon at Harford Mall in Bel Air, and the suspect's vehicle was located miles away, police said.

Officers responded to the mall around 4:06 p.m. for a reported shooting, which was initially treated as an active shooter situation until more information was gathered.

A vehicle believed to be the suspect's was found unoccupied in Edgewood, while the shooter remains at large, Bel Air police said.

Officers said the vehicle initially reported was a red SUV, but they did not say what type of vehicle was located.

The identity of the suspect has not been released due to the investigation, police said.

“Based on the witness accounts, we are able to identify a possible suspect vehicle, which led us to a potential suspect,” said Bel Air Police Cpl. Keith Smithson said. “The suspect is not in custody, we cannot reveal anything further on this subject.”

The mall was cleared around 5:30 p.m. Officers say there is no threat to the immediate area, but people should continue to avoid the area during the investigation.

Police said the shooting appears to be an isolated incident involving a victim and a suspect.

Bel Air police, Maryland State Police, the Harford County Sheriff's Office, as well as units from the Aberdeen and Havre de Grace volunteer fire companies responded to the shooting.

Witnesses or anyone with additional information should contact Det. Sgt. Marchesani at 410-638-4500.

“The training paid off”

Smithson said the initial response was heightened due to the nature of the call, but was scaled back once police secured the area.

“The training paid off,” Smithson said. “I'll say that in response to that. We don't do this often, but we train for it often and it showed today.”

The victim is expected to survive

The victim was taken to the hospital where he is in stable condition, according to police.

“Upon arrival, our officers immediately made contact with a victim, an adult male,” Smithson said. “They rescued the victim who is in stable condition and was transported to a Baltimore hospital.”

“It was quite scary”

Keely Hoffman, who was working at the Greene Turtle when the shots were fired, told WJZ she saw law enforcement flooding the area and was afraid the shooter would enter her restaurant.

“The helicopter and the ambulances came, and like the cops were literally pouring everywhere,” Hoffman said. “And I have really bad anxiety, so I was like, 'I have to get out of here, like we're trapped. I can't leave, I don't know what's going to happen.'”

Ethan Scott said he was shopping across the street when he saw police arriving and people running out of the mall.

“It was pretty scary to see how terrified everyone was,” Scott said. “But other than that, I was just in shock,” Scott said.

Scott said his biggest fear was that the altercation would spill outside and there would be indiscriminate shooting.

“There would be a shootout in the parking lot and straight bullets would come in here and I would get hit by one of them.”