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Mall shooting was shoe deal gone wrong: docs
New court documents reveal December's shooting at Barton Creek Square Mall in southwest Austin may have stemmed from some stolen shoes. The violence sparked an active shooter scare for shoppers.
AUSTIN, Texas - Court documents revealed new details about the shooting at Barton Creek Square Mall that injured one and scared hundreds of shoppers.
An arrest affidavit for the alleged shooter, 19-year-old Vincent Gutierrez, says the shooting happened after a fight broke out over a bag of stolen shoes worth $6,000.
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People fearful after Austin mall shooting
Some Austinites say they are scared to go to the mall after one person was shot at Barton Creek Square Mall this past weekend. Austin police said it was an isolated incident, and not an active shooter.
On Dec. 12 at around 4:42 p.m., Austin police responded to numerous 911 callers saying they heard gunshots at the mall and that people were panicking.
Officers learned the shooting happened near The Cheesecake Factory, and officers located one victim, identified as J. Cooper, who was shot in the arm. Before being taken to the hospital, Cooper said he was at the mall to buy a pair of shoes with his friend.
Police questioned a subject who said his name was Jose Valdez. After looking through computerized records, police identified the subject as 22-year-old Joe Celso Perez.
An officer observed dried blood above Perez's left eyebrow and a fresh wound on his knee. Perez was "extremely vague" when answering questions, saying he was jumped for no reason by an unknown number of men, and saying he was at the mall to sell a pair of shoes to an unknown man he had met on Facebook Marketplace.
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Perez was arrested for Failure to Identify and sent to be interviewed by a detective.
In his interview, Perez said he was at the mall to meet his friend "Junior" and sell $6,000 worth of shoes to people that "Junior" met online.
When he got to the mall, Perez said he had met with the other two subjects, and they asked if he had the shoes. Perez unzipped a duffle bag to show the shoes to the two buyers, who then started assaulting him.
Perez said he heard gunshots while he was on the ground but could not see who was shooting. He said that "Junior" was reckless and could have been the shooter, although he did not know if Junior had brought a gun.
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Austin mall shooting: No suspect in custody
The search continues for a suspect after a shooting at the Barton Creek Square Mall on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
"Junior" left the scene before APD responded.
Cooper, being interviewed at the hospital, said his friend E. Espinoza had his home burglarized a few days prior, and the people who broke into his apartment were selling the stolen items on Facebook Marketplace.
Cooper and Espinoza contacted the person selling the items via Facebook, then drove to the mall to meet with the person who was selling the stolen items. Cooper said Espinoza wanted to fight the seller to get his stolen items back.
They met in the parking lot near The Cheesecake Factory, Cooper watching from 10 to 15 feet away. During the meeting, a fight broke out between Espinoza and the seller, eventually involving Cooper. Cooper said he ran from the fight after he heard a gunshot, followed by another gunshot later on.
The Facebook account "Goon Moontop" was connected with the initial burglary of the stolen shoes. Through the account, police were able to identify the suspect as 19-year-old Vincent Gutierrez.
Gutierrez was arrested Dec. 21.