Editor’s Note: This story contains details of a mass tragedy and gun violence. If you or someone you know is a survivor of a mass tragedy or is coping and needs to speak with someone, please call 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or visit https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline.
The Giants believe that “some players” were inside the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. at the time of a deadly shooting on Friday night.
A 19-year-old man was killed during the shooting that resulted in a lockdown of the country’s largest shopping center, according to local police.
Pat Hanlon, the team’s executive vice president of communications, told the Associated Press that the team is staying at a hotel adjacent to the mall. He believes that some players were inside the shopping center at the time of the shooting, but that everyone had returned to the hotel after the incident.
“Everyone is back in the hotel and accounted for now,” Hanlon told the AP on Friday night.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero amended Hanlon’s assessment Saturday morning, reporting that “many players” were inside the mall at the time of the shooting and had to spend an hour inside the shopping center while the lockdown was in place. General manager Joe Schoen was also reportedly in the mall and was receiving “position-by-position” updates from team security until he confirmed that all players were safe.
Also in the mall at the time of the shooting Friday was longtime Giants radio play-by-play announcer Bob Papa, who tweeted from the mall during the lockdown.
Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges said that there appeared to be a type of altercation between two groups at the mall’s Nordstrom location around 7:50 p.m. local time on Friday evening. During the incident, which lasted about 30 seconds, an unidentified individual pulled out a gun and shot the victim multiple times. Hodges said that a bystander’s jacket was also grazed during the shooting.
The mall is expected to reopen on Saturday, but the Nordstrom store will remain closed, Hodges said.
The Giants are in Minnesota for a game against the Vikings on Saturday. The Christmas Eve contest is still scheduled to kick off on time at 1 p.m. ET.
