Police arrest teens in connection to shooting at Omaha mall

OMAHA, Neb. — One man is dead and a woman was injured after a shooting at an Omaha mall Saturday.

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Police determined that the gunmen had fled the scene after opening fire at Westroads Mall at around noon, the Omaha World-Herald reported. By 1:15 p.m., police discontinued a “potential active shooter” situation, KETV reported.

Update 12:54 p.m. April 18: Both suspects have been arrested, investigators said on Sunday.

Authorities arrested Brandon Woolridge-Jones, 18, and charged him with one count accessory to a felony, KETV reported. Police also issued an arrest warrant for 16-year-old Makhi Woolridge-Jones, who was arrested later that morning, KETV reported.

Update 1:33 a.m. April 18: Omaha police identified the victims as Trequez Swift, 21, and Ja’Keya Veland, 27, according to KETV.

Swift suffered gunshot wounds inside the mall. He was taken to Health Bergan Mercy Hospital, where he later died, the television station reported. Veland was taken by a private vehicle to Immanuel Hospital where she received treatment for an wound to her leg that was not life-threatening.

Update 5:55 p.m. EDT April 17: Police said the man taken to Bergan Mercy Hospital in Omaha in critical condition later died, KETV reported.

The identities of the victims are being withheld, pending notification of the next of kin, the television station reported. Police said there were two suspects, and they believe the duo left the mall shortly after the shooting.

Original report: At least two people were injured, one critically, during a shooting at an Omaha mall Saturday. The gunmen remain at large, authorities said.

“This wasn’t an active shooter situation; however, our department, just taking precautions, treated it as so,” Lt. Neal Bonacci, a spokesperson with the Omaha Police Department, said during a news conference.

Police determined the suspects had fled the scene after searching the mall, Bonacci told reporters.

Police did not provide a description of the suspects, saying they needed to review security footage, the World-Herald reported.

Bonacci said one man is in critical condition at an area hospital, WOWT reported. A woman in her 20s suffered a gunshot wound to her leg and was taken to a different hospital, the World-Herald reported.

It is unclear what led to the shooting, police said.

This is the second reported shooting at Westroads Mall in a little more than a month. Omaha Police Officer Jeffrey Wittstruck was shot at four times by a 21-year-old man who was accused of shoplifting T-shirts from a JCPenney store on March 12, the newspaper reported. Wittstruck survived the attack and returned home from a hospital five days after the shooting.

The JCPenney is located about 200 feet from Von Maur, where a gunman killed eight people and then himself in December 2007, the World-Herald reported.

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