Official: Multiple shots fired at NJ mall

Official: Multiple shots fired at NJ mall

PARAMUS, N.J.

Multiple shots were fired inside a northern New Jersey mall shortly before closing time Monday night, and there are no reports of fatalities or injuries, a county official said.

Bergen County spokeswoman Jeanne Baratta told The Associated Press that a call went out that shots were had been fired at the Garden State Plaza Mall shortly before the facility’s 9:30 p.m. closing time. She said authorities found one bullet casing.

Hundreds of law enforcement officers converged on a mall, which was put on lockdown. New Jersey State Police landed a helicopter in the parking lot of the 2.2-million square foot facility.

Baratta said SWAT teams and police with K-9 units were going through the mall and working to evacuate anyone who is still in there. As of 11:30 p.m., authorities believed there were still people in the mall, she said.

Parents of Calif. teen killed by deputy sue

SAN FRANCISCO

The parents of a Northern California teen fatally shot by a deputy sheriff alleged that their son was gunned down too quickly and without legal justification in a lawsuit filed Monday in federal court.

The lawsuit alleges Sonoma County deputy sheriff Erick Gelhaus shot Andy Lopez, 13, with almost no warning Oct. 22 after observing the teen walking in Santa Rosa with a pellet gun that resembled an automatic weapon. The boy had been returning the “airsoft-type toy” to a friend when, according to the lawsuit, a patrol car carrying Gelhaus and an unidentified partner, who was driving, sped within about 35 feet of Lopez.

Investigators say 10 seconds elapsed between the time the deputies reported a “suspicious person” and then reported shots fired to dispatchers. Sheriff’s officials have said Gelhaus says he feared for his life and that’s why he began shooting.

Syria vows to vaccinate all kids

DAMASCUS, Syria

Syria said Monday that it will work with international organizations to ensure that all children in the country, even those in rebel-held areas, will be vaccinated against polio after an outbreak of the crippling and highly communicable disease.

The World Health Organization last week confirmed 10 cases of polio among babies and toddlers in northeastern Syria. The U.N. health agency warned that the outbreak — the first in 14 years in the country — risks spreading among an estimated half-million Syrian children who haven’t been immunized because of the civil war.

Professor’s son at center of lockdown

NEW BRITAIN, Conn.

Officials say the son of a Central Connecticut State University geography professor is at the center of a commotion that led to a three-hour lockdown of the campus.

University officials say 21-year-old senior David Kyem, son of professor Peter Kyem, was arrested Monday and charged with breach of peace. They say the younger Kyem has been released on $1,000 bail.

The campus was put on lockdown earlier Monday after officials received reports of a person carrying a sword or handgun.

WFSB-TV is reporting the elder Kyem says his son attended a party at the University of Connecticut for three days without a change of clothes and returned to campus still wearing his Halloween costume, which was a ninja.

Associated Press