A man with a gun who was being chased by Riverside County sheriff’s deputies ran inside the Promenade shopping mall in Temecula during the busy Christmas shopping season on Friday, Dec. 19, causing some panicked customers to flee or hide before he was arrested.
No one inside the mall was injured, and reports on social media of an active shooter were incorrect, the Sheriff’s Department said.
Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department did treat a person at the request of deputies, said Capt. John Clingingsmith, a Cal Fire spokesman. That patient was not hospitalized, he said. It was unclear whether that person was the suspect.
The situation unfolded starting at 1:10 p.m. when deputies learned of an armed person near Murrieta Hot Springs Road and Jefferson Avenue, said Lt. Deirdre Vickers, a sheriff’s spokeswoman.
“Deputies located the vehicle and attempted a vehicle stop, but the driver failed to yield, and a pursuit was initiated,” Vickers said.
The pursuit continued onto Winchester Road, where the suspect entered a business, followed by deputies, Vickers said. (The Sheriff’s Department does not provide the names of businesses where crimes take place, but Temecula city officials, in a Facebook post, identified that business as Promenade Temecula.)
Some shoppers ran outside, while others were taken in by businesses that then closed, according to social media posts. It was unclear how many people fled or hid. Deputies locked down the mall. It was unclear how long the lockdown and the search for the suspect lasted.
“It was terrifying,” one Facebook commenter wrote.
The suspect was “taken into custody without incident,” Vickers said.
