Deadly shooting at Bloomington restaurant under investigation
One person was killed and another was injured Wednesday afternoon in a shooting at a restaurant in Bloomington, police said.
Bloomington, MN (Fox 9) – The day before Thanksgiving, the Penn Lakes Mall was in chaos.
Andy Knaeble, manager of Instant Replay Sports, said: “The first thing I saw was a policeman ran by with a gun drawn. We didn’t like that. It was annoying, to be honest.”
Bloomington police said a man with a gun walked into the Co Tu restaurant early Wednesday afternoon, where several patrons scuffled him and pushed him out of the restaurant twice.
But the gunman returned a third time and fired several shots, killing a regular customer and wounding a waiter before the gunman took off.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous, this guy is a cold-blooded killer,” said Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges.
A witness inside the restaurant told Fox 9 that the shooter was wearing an old man’s mask.
Witnesses said he got into an altercation with the gunman but eventually ran out of the building.
When he returned, witnesses saw the shot customer lying on the floor, so he began CPR on him until the restaurant’s doctors took over
“It’s Thanksgiving. Families get together. You eat at a restaurant and this happens. So I feel sorry for the victims,” Chief Hodges said.
The shooting has been particularly disturbing for the owner of Penn Lake Roast Beef, two doors down the road, who himself was shot and killed during a robbery two years ago.
“Shocked. OMG. It happened again. OMG. Nope,” said Kevan Tran, owner of Pennsylvania Lake Roast Beef.
People who work in strip malls hope gun violence doesn’t become widespread.
“Obviously I don’t want it to happen. It affects a lot of people. Hopefully things get better before they get worse.”