A 42-year-old security guard was in custody today in lieu of $250,000 bail after allegedly firing more than 50 rounds in a parking area at the Fashion Island mall in Newport Beach, spreading panic among shoppers already unsettled by news of the massacre at an elementary school in Connecticut.
(Flickr/Nouhailler)
Marcos Sarinana Gurrola of Garden Grove was booked on suspicion of shooting at an inhabited dwelling following Saturday afternoon’s shooting, said Newport Beach police Sgt. Randy Querry.
He is scheduled to appear at the Central Jail Court in Santa Ana Tuesday for arraignment, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
The suspect was initially jailed in Newport Beach, then transferred tomthe Orange County jail, authorities said.
A check of state Department of Consumer Affairs Bureau of Security and Investigative Services records shows Gurrola has a Guard/Patrolperson Registration issued January 2, 2009, and due to expire Jan. 31, 2013.
Newport Beach police received multiple calls of gunfire in the east side of the parking lot outside the Macy’s at San Miguel and Newport Center drives, according to department spokeswoman Kathy Lowe.
“A male was shooting a weapon in the air and at the ground, standing by a vehicle,” Lowe said.
There were no injuries from the shots, but one person suffered minor injuries trying to get away from the area on foot, she said.
At least 50 shots were fired, according to Lowe.
Bicycle officers who patrol the area arrived quickly and took the gunman into custody without incident, Lowe said.
“The suspect was standing next to his vehicle at the time of the arrest and advised officers there was additional ammunition located in the trunk of his vehicle,” she said. “As a precautionary measure, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Bomb Squad was called in to remove the ammunition from the vehicle.”
Shoppers described in media interviews the terror they felt over the shooting one day after the violence in Connecticut, where 20 children aged 6 and 7 were killed, along with six women.
Read, In wake of tragedy, Temecula therapist offers talking tips for parents.
Some shoppers frightened by Saturday’s mall shooting took refuge inside dressing rooms at the Nordstrom store while others fled into Macy’s.
Several Fashion Island stores secured their doors as a precaution, Lowe said, but most were open throughout the evening.
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