PARAMUS, NJ-The Westfield Garden State Plaza re-opened Wednesday after a day-long police search of the premises following the shooting that took place there Monday.
Richard Shoop had fired multiple shots inside the mall - the state's largest - trapping hundreds of mall employees and shoppers there for hours Monday. Law enforcement officials found him dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a remote area of the shopping center. No one else was injured.
"Will you go shopping at Garden State Plaza after shooting?" asked an online poll at nj.com. The poll didn't draw much response, though, and the parking lot was packed, according to one respondent who said he lived in the area.
The mall reopened at 10 a.m. on Wednesday. Paramus Mayor Richard LaBarbiera, who was on hand for the opening, said, “People should feel safe here. It is fortunate that it happened at a place that is so well prepared." See story in The Record.
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