GUILDERLAND – Multiple police agencies remain at Crossgates Mall this evening after an alleged shooting took place inside the mall earlier today.
According to posts on Facebook and Twitter, the alleged event took place near the Apple store on the first floor around 2:30 p.m.
The mall quickly went into lockdown. Both shoppers and employees were instructed to shelter in place until notified otherwise. As of this update, police agencies are still conducting a sweep of the building and evacuating any remaining shoppers and employees. No one appears to have been injured as a result of the alleged shooting.
Multiple media outlets were reporting earlier this evening that two suspects who were initially detained by police had been released.
According to Guilderland Police Chief Carol Lawlor, who addressed media representatives outside the mall around 4:30 p.m., authorities are looking for a black male, approximately six feet tall, weighing about 200 pounds, wearing a white shirt with a black hoodie based on surveillance camera footage. As of this update, the suspect is still at large.
While CDTA bus service has been suspended to the mall until further notice, buses are parked in the overflow lot across from Dave & Busters for evacuees to use as warming stations. Road entrances into the mall remain blocked at this time.
A tweet posted earlier this evening by one of the mall’s tenants, Albany Funny Bone, states that Crossgates is closed for the day. A call made the the mall’s main phone number around 5:45 p.m. went unanswered. There was no message on the recording about the alleged shooting nor the facility’s closure for the day.
We will continue to update this story with confirmed information as it becomes available.