Child pushed or thrown at mall falls three floors
MINNEAPOLIS — A five-year-old boy plummeted three floors Friday after being pushed or thrown from a balcony at the Mall of America, according to witnesses, and police said a 24-year-old man was in custody.
Bloomington Police Chief Jeffrey Potts said police don’t think there is any relationship between the man and the family of the child, who suffered lifethreatening injuries. He was being treated at a hospital.
Witnesses told police that the child might have been pushed or thrown from the mall’s third level to the first floor, Potts said. He said the suspect ran but was quickly found and arrested at the mall.
A witness said a woman screamed that her child had ben thrown from the balcony.
Brian Johnson told WCCO-TV the woman was screaming: “Everybody pray, everybody pray! Oh my God, my baby, someone threw him over the edge.”
Police said Emmanuel Deshawn Aranda, of Minneapolis, was being held on suspicion of attempted homicide.
Aranda’s criminal record includes two convictions in 2015 for obstruction of the legal process/interfering with a peace officer, as well as convictions for fifth-degree assault, trespassing and damage to property.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Aranda had an attorney.
Police don’t have an idea about possible motive, Potts said.
Court records show Aranda was charged in two previous incidents at the mall, including one in which things were thrown off the upper level to the lower level.