NORTH JERSEY — A popular mall in Paramus went into lockdown mode Monday night, with employees crowded into safe areas of stores, after a man dressed in a strange getup walked through the mall shooting.
The man wore a motorcycle helmet and began randomly shooting, witnesses said. Approximately 200 police officers responded to the mall.
The incident took place as the mall was closing around 9:30 p.m. No one was hurt.
News of the incident caused area residents to lock their doors, as police believed the man had left the mall.
However, after 3 a.m., his body was discovered in the back of a store at the mall. He had shot himself to death, according to media reports.
“We believe that he went in there with the intent to either be shot by police, which we call suicide by cop, or to take his own life, which ultimately he did,” Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli was quoted as saying Tuesday morning.