9-year-old waiting for Easter Bunny shot as store owner chases shoplifters, CA cops say

A 9-year-old girl reportedly waiting to take photos with the Easter bunny at a California mall was shot by a shop owner who was trying to stop shoplifters, according to local authorities.

The incident took place at around 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 12, at the Victor Valley Mall, according to a news release from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. Deputies said they evacuated the mall to search for the gunman, who fled the scene.

The armed man, who owned the store Sole Addicts inside the mall, was located by Nevada Highway Patrol officers at around 9 p.m. that day and taken into custody, the sheriff’s department said. The 20-year-old man is accused of chasing two shoplifters out of his store and firing multiple shots at them, hitting the 9-year-old girl instead.

After gunshots rang out in the mall, several stores were locked down and employees were told to shelter in place. The mall was then evacuated, CBS Los Angeles reported.

“[Deputies] escorted us out, and they had guns drawn at us, and it was kind of scary,” mall employee Jayla Gray told the outlet. “And they were yelling at us to put our hands up as they escorted us out of the mall.”

The shop owner was booked into the Clark County Jail in southern Nevada and faces a charge of attempted murder. He’s currently being held on an extraditable warrant of $1,000,000, the release said.

The 9-year-old girl was airlifted to the Loma Linda University Medical Center and treated for her injuries, the sheriff’s department said.

Robin Moraga-Saldarelli, identified by KNBC as the child’s grandmother, told the outlet that her family ran inside a store and locked themselves inside after gunfire rang out while waiting to take photos with the Easter bunny — and then noticed the 9-year-old had been shot.

Although she was in stable condition when she arrived at the hospital, she was in ”a lot of pain” the next morning and was confused about not being able to return to school, the girl’s mother told Fox11.

According to a GoFundMe page set up by the girl’s mother, the child suffered two gunshot wounds and has a broken arm.

The mall did not reopen for the rest of the evening, CBS Los Angeles reported.

Victorville is about 85 miles northeast of Los Angeles. The sheriff’s department did not mention any potential charges against the accused shoplifters as an investigation continues.

This story was originally published April 13, 2022 at 1:55 PM with the headline "9-year-old waiting for Easter Bunny shot as store owner chases shoplifters, CA cops say."