Monroeville Mall shooting suspect arrested in Brackenridge

An unsuspecting couple walking through a Macy's department store with their son in tow on Saturday remain hospitalized after being shot inside the Monroeville Mall, according to a criminal complaint filed against a teenager arrested early Sunday in connection with the shooting.

Police apprehended Tarod Tyrell Thornhill, 17, of Penn Hills around 3:15 a.m. inside a Brackenridge home. He is being charged as an adult, Allegheny County police said. Thornhill is lodged in the Allegheny County Jail awaiting arraignment. He is charged with three counts of aggravated assault, four counts of reckless endangerment, two weapons charges and one count each of attempted homicide and causing catastrophe.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled Feb. 18.

Using Macy's surveillance footage, police said Thomas Singleton, 48, and his wife, Mary Singleton, 47, walked through the department store around 7:30 p.m. Their son, whose age was not provided, walked behind them. Police did not say where the family lives.

Video showed Thornhill with a semiautomatic handgun to his side approach Davon Jones, 20, inside the store, the complaint states. Thornhill and Jones exchanged words and, as the Singletons walked between them, Thornhill opened fire.

Thomas Singleton sustained a gunshot wound to the back of his left leg, severing an artery, police said. Mary Singleton was shot in the left shoulder. Jones received multiple gunshot wounds, including to his left side, groin and buttocks, police said.

All three were transported to Forbes Regional Hospital's trauma center and remain at the Monroeville facility, a hospital official said. Thomas Singleton and Jones are in critical condition, while Mary Singleton is in fair condition, said Allegheny Health Network spokesman Dan Laurent.

Investigators said they matched images from mall surveillance videos to social media photos in order to identify Thornhill. About four hours before the shooting, Thornhill posted an image of himself on Instagram showing the same likeness and clothing as the shooter in the mall video. Thornhill wore a black hooded sweatshirt with white lettering inside a white box on the front, black pants with a white belt and black and gray Nike shoes with white laces, police said.

Police locked down the 1.3 million-square-foot shopping center and went store to store to evacuate the mall following the shooting.

The incident occurred nearly six weeks after a December brawl in which waves of teenagers rushed from one fight to another.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Terrelle Pryor of Jeannette sent out at least two messages on the social messaging website Twitter, saying that he was at the mall during the shooting.

“Didn't see who was shooting, saw two people drop, though! I was looking but 10 more shots went off and was getting closer to me. Then I ran.”

Pryor did not return phone messages seeking comment.

Mall spokeswoman Stacey Keating said the shooting was contained to Macy's, though she provided no details. A manager at Macy's declined to comment and referred questions to a spokeswoman who did not respond to messages.

Shoppers said people picked up their children and ran when they heard gunshots. Some parents were separated from their kids.

Police carrying shotguns responded to the scene.

Fourteen departments responded, including officers from Monroeville, Allegheny County, Munhall, Plum and the Allegheny County Sheriff's Department.

FBI Special Agent Gregory Heeb said several agents responded to help evacuate patrons and employees from the mall.

Mitchell Swann, 18, of Rankin said he heard several shots.

“I grabbed my friend, and said, ‘Let's go,' and said, ‘We're out of here,' ” he said.

Yvette Jackson, 38, of North Braddock was attending a birthday party in Giggles and Smiles.

“We saw a lot of running, a lot of chaos,” she said.

She and other patrons were locked in the store for about 45 minutes until police let them out, she said.

Monroeville Mall had added security after the December incident in which two teens were injured.

Four on-duty police officers have been stationed in the mall on Friday and Saturday evenings at the mall's request, Monroeville Mayor Gregory Erosenko said.

“I would have thought that having four officers there would have deterred any incident like we saw (Saturday),” Erosenko said.

Staff writers Bill Vidonic, Stacey Federoff and Gideon Bradshaw contributed. Mike Wereschagin and Jason Cato are staff writers for Trib Total Media. Reach Mike at 412-320-7900 or mwereschagin@tribweb.com. Reach Jason at 412-320-7936 or jcato@tribweb.com.