SIOUX FALLS S.D. (KELO) — Police continue to investigate what happened with shots fired inside the Empire Mall Friday night.
Surveillance video pointed police to a suspect who was then arrested Saturday morning — 18-year-old Jaden Bingham, who is charged with aggravated assault.
1 arrested in Empire Mall shooting incident
Lt. Aaron Nyberg said detectives believe two people “potentially fired” guns at the scene. Detectives recovered three guns from the suspect involved and Nyberg pointed out South Dakota law doesn’t require guns to be registered.
“This case is still ongoing, detectives are working to try and identified everyone that was involved at the mall,” Nyberg said, adding there were no injuries in the shooting.
Police did not share where the shots were fired but said there were not bullet holes in the ceiling of the mall.
Nyberg said there may be gang affiliation involved in the incident. SFPD received more than 40 calls to the Empire Mall related to the incident.
SFPD Chief Jon Thum said one officer commented about how Friday night into Saturday morning was the busiest 24 hours of his career. Police responded to a deadly stabbing in a home Saturday morning where a 30-year-old was arrested for murder.
Thum stressed mall shoppers were not the target during the shooting at the mall and the case is two groups of people upset with each other. He said people should look at becoming mentors for young people to help kids from embracing a bad lifestyles.
“They are no strangers to us,” Thum said. “There are chances to make interventions. It often comes in investing in grade schoolers and middle schoolers before we get to this point where this is the outcome.”
Thum said many of the core schools are seeing a decrease in mentorship involvement.
“Not a silver bullet, but we better get engaged within that field,” Thum said. “Take this event and find a sense of action within that about what you can do within your community to intervene.”
This is a developing story.