An alleged gunman in a mass shooting in Arizona on Wednesday night recorded himself during the shooting, according to footage posted to social media. The shooting took place at the Westgate Entertainment District shopping and dining complex in Glendale, a suburb of Phoenix.
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The Glendale Police Department tweeted that at least two people were injured and one person was in custody without revealing the suspect’s identity. There were no immediate reports of any deaths from the shooting.
However, the person on camera identified himself as Armando Junior Hernandez and said in part, “I’m gonna be the shooter of Westgate.” The 41-second video seemed to be edited and showed the person on camera in different clothes and settings before it cut to footage of a gun being fired in what appeared to be a dark hallway.
Hernandez’s mother reportedly confirmed her son’s identity and said he was 20 years old from Peoria, Arizona, which is about 4 miles north of Glendale. Hernandez reportedly went to high school in Glendale.
The video surfaced on social media in the minutes after the shooting was first reported about 7:40 local time and included an interaction with a person who appeared to be shot in a parking lot asking for the shooter to stop. There was no apparent mention of a motive for the shooting.
In anticipation of social media channels likely disabling the video, NewsOne took a screenshot of the person who identified himself as Armando Junior Hernandez.
Source: Twitter
The shooting took place five days after the state reopened its non-essential businesses following their closures because of the coronavirus social distancing guidelines.
Arizona State Sen. MartÃn Quezada tweeted that he was at the Westgate Entertainment District and witnessed the gunman, who he described as “an armed terrorist with an AR-15.” He said he saw “multiple victims.”
Journalist Mitch Carr reported that the Glendale Police Department revised the number of injured from two to three people.
However, at least one of those three victims was reportedly in critical condition. The other two victims were reportedly stable and expected to recover. Local journalist David Caltabiano tweeted that police said they “challenged” the gunman before being able to take him into custody.
Another witness filmed the police responding from her vantage point hiding in a studio.
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Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey tweeted that he was aware of the shooting.
Local news outlet Fox 10 reported that it was only hours earlier when Ducey said: “the state’s reopening and the expiration of the stay-at-home order have been smooth, with not many issues, and that the state remains at phase 1 of the process.”
The husband of Gabby Giffords, the former Arizona Congresswoman and gun control advocate who survived an assassination attempt, tweeted his thoughts and prayers for all of the victims involved in Wednesday night’s shooting.
This is a developing story and will be updated as additional information becomes available.
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