Man with gun in custody after standoff near Mall of America

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — A man with a shotgun was taken into custody Friday after a standoff in a parking lot at the Mall of America, authorities said.

The Bloomington Police Department said on social media that crisis negotiators were brought to the scene and the man was taken into custody in the area of American Boulevard and 24th Avenue in the Minneapolis suburb.

The standoff began shortly after 4 p.m. A 911 caller said the man had a large gun in the parking lot and entered a tent for the Royal Canadian International Circus, which is set up in the lot, the Star Tribune reported.

The Bloomington police said officers arrived to find a man in the parking lot with a shotgun, which he refused to drop when told to do so by police.

People in the tent and a nearby hotel were evacuated. Officers reached the man’s family members, who said he was having a mental health crisis.

Crisis negotiators tried to get him to surrender, but at about 6:15 p.m. he went to his vehicle and wouldn’t get out, police said. The Star Tribune reported that about a half hour later the man got out of his SUV and two shots rang out he fell to the ground and yelled.

Officers handcuffed the man, who was alive and moving. The man, who was not immediately identified, was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, the Star Tribune reported.

Shoppers couldn’t enter the parking lot during the standoff and nearby roads were closed, but reopened after the standoff ended.

Mall of America spokesperson Laura Utecht said one mall entrance was closed while police engaged with the man but the mall remained open.