[January 30, 2014](Reuters) — A 19-year-old Maryland
mall gunman assembled a shotgun in a skateboard shop dressing room
before killing two employees and then turning the weapon on himself,
police said on Wednesday.
The shooter, Darion Marcus Aguilar, turned the bustling mall in
Columbia, Maryland, into a scene of terror on Saturday.
Aguilar carried the disassembled 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun into the
mall in a backpack, the Howard County Police Department said on its
Twitter feed.
Aguilar, who lived in College Park, Maryland, put the shotgun
together in a dressing room at the mall's Zumiez skateboard store.
Police "believe Aguilar exited the Zumiez dressing room, shot the
two victims and then himself," police said. The victims have been
identified as Brianna Benlolo, 21, of College Park, and Tyler
Johnson, 25, of Mount Airy, Maryland.
The store had no video cameras so there is no footage of the
shootings, it said. Police have said Aguilar fired six to eight
shots.
At one point, he stepped out of the store and wounded a woman who
was struck in the foot, police said.
Aguilar was dead when officers arrived less than two minutes after
the first 911 call, police said.
Investigators have not given a motive for the shootings. Police have
said they have not turned up any relationship between the shop
employees and Aguilar.
Police have found a journal kept by Aguilar and said on Tuesday that
it showed he "knew he was having mental health issues."
Police believe Aguilar legally bought the shotgun last month. The
attack was the latest in a spate of U.S. shootings that has renewed
questions about the vulnerability of public places in the United
States.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson; editing by Scott Malone and Andrew Hay)
