Gunman Opens Fire in Iowa Mall, One Dead
CORALVILLE, Iowa, June 13 (UPI) — A former security guard was charged in the shooting death of a woman at a crowded Iowa mall Friday night.
Alexander Matthew Kozak, 22, was charged with first-degree murder after he walked up to a 20-year-old woman at about 7:30 p.m. in the Coral Ridge Mall food court and shot her in the head. She died at the hospital. Witnesses identified the shooter as a former mall security guard who had recently been fired.
“He made eye contact with me, I saw the gun and he sprinted off” down the main corridor of the mall, said Ryan Ross, who works at a mall kiosk.
Kozak was taken into custody by Iowa State Police after being spotted driving on Interstate 80. He is expected to make his first appearance in court Saturday. Coral Ridge is the second largest mall in Iowa.
We were in Target & heard 3-4 shots fired in the food court area of Coral Ridge Mall, evacuated immediately. @KCRG pic.twitter.com/qYwS3EwZ7z
— Elise Loyola Mance (@MrsEliseMance) June 13, 2015
