There was a Black Friday shooting at a mall. Now police say they caught the young teen behind it all.

ALBUQUERQUE, NM - On Friday, November 24th, a shooting broke out at the Coronado Center when two men got into a physical altercation with two other men. 

According to the Albuquerque Police Department (APD), one of the men pulled out a handgun and ran through the mall with the gun in his hand. Upon exiting the mall, one of the men fired a shot outdoors. A day later, police identified and charged a 14-year-old male for the shooting. 

Police are actively working to arrest the suspect, identified only as Montoya due to his age, on those charges. The incident, which took place at 3:51 p.m., on Friday, was not an active shooter and no one was injured. Detectives believe that Montoya was fighting with another juvenile over social media and pulled out a gun when they encountered each other at the mall.  

According to the press release from APD, officers detained a juvenile who was involved in a fight with Montoya. The juvenile stated that he used to be friends with Montoya, but that they have "been in an on-going dispute over social media." The juvenile admitted to running up to Montoya at the mall and punching him.

APD said, "The juvenile said that the suspect produced a silver handgun and started chasing him and another individual. The first juvenile fell during the chase and he said the suspect continued to run after the second individual. The suspect decided to exit the mall and can be seen in surveillance video with the gun partially in his waistband. He motions for the second individual to come toward him."

An off-duty Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office lieutenant was on the scene at the time of the incident. APD Public Information Officer Gilbert Gallegos said that the suspect first walked away from the mall entrance, but then turned back toward the open door. 

At the moment, a gunshot can be heard going off, causing shoppers and workers inside the mall to panic. Additional surveillance footage shows the suspect "manipulating the handgun once he was outside the mall." APD said, "That video shows him turning back toward the mall, abruptly raising the handgun and firing a round."

Montoya immediately fled on foot toward Menaul Blvd. APD said that one bullet casing was located near where the suspect fired the handgun and an impact was later discovered above the entrance to the mall near the Coronado sign. Investigators are trying to determine if that is where the bullet struck the building.

A gun that matched the firearm used by the suspect was reportedly found on the evening of November 25th near the mall and turned over to police. The mall closed on Friday and people were cleared from inside the mall. Gallegos said, "We're just trying to get everyone reunited, traffic out of the parking area."

Gallegos said that when they started receiving calls about shots being fired, about 100 officers who were monitoring a demonstration at the Uptown Shopping Area responded to the Coronado Center.

Friday happened to be Black Friday, which is one of the largest shopping days of the year in the United States. A witness who was at the mall during the shooting incident said that hundreds of people were in the mall at that time. 

APD said that a warrant was approved by the Children's Court that charges the 14-year-old suspect with shooting at an occupied building, disorderly conduct, unlawful possession of a handgun by a person, unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon, and criminal damage to property. 
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Kevin

Hopefully, being invaded by millions more of his people will make America better.

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