April 22 (UPI) — Police in Minnesota arrested a man in the Mall of America parking lot after receiving a call about a person in the area armed with a shotgun.
Bloomington, Minn., Police told the Star Tribune they responded late Friday afternoon to Mall’s north parking lot, where the Royal Canadian International Circus was staging a performance, after a 911 caller said a man with a gun had entered a circus tent.
When they arrived, police said they confronted the man, who allegedly refused to drop the weapon and wasn’t cooperating, KSTP-TV reported.
After contacting a family member, police said they learned the man was having a mental health crisis.
Earlier reports had said that there were shots fired, but the police later clarified that no shots had been fired in the mall.
“Crisis negotiators are communicating with the male and attempting to negotiate a surrender,” the Bloomington Police Department tweeted.
After crisis communicators arrived, the man was detained and taken to a hospital.
The mall’s parking areas and nearby roads were closed temporarily during the incident but then reopened after the man was detained.