Disturbing Video Shows A Teen Opening Fire In A Maryland Mall, Shooting A 13-Year-Old In A Children's Play Area

A 17-year-old opened fire inside a busy Maryland shopping mall Friday evening, striking a 13-year-old boy in the leg just steps from a children’s play area before an armed security guard took him down.

Diego Rafael Turcios Avalos, of Silver Spring, was sitting at a table near the Cinnabon at Westfield Wheaton Mall around 6 p.m. on July 31 when a group of teenagers walked past him. Surveillance video shows the teen standing up, pulling out a handgun and blasting away at the group.

One round hit the 13-year-old in the ankle. The boy was treated at the scene with a tourniquet and taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Kids were playing nearby when the shots rang out.

Prosecutors say Avalos’ 9mm handgun jammed after the first shots, a malfunction that likely prevented more victims. The suspect then fled toward a Dick’s Sporting Goods, where an armed mall security officer spotted the weapon, ordered him to the ground and held him until police arrived.

Montgomery County police recovered the black handgun at the scene. Avalos has been charged as an adult with attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, use of a firearm in a violent felony, carrying a loaded handgun and possession of a firearm by a minor.

A judge ordered him held without bail, calling him a danger to the community. He is being housed in a juvenile facility for now and turns 18 in November.

The shooting sparked more than 20 frantic 911 calls and sent shoppers scrambling. Police said the rapid response by the trained security guard prevented further bloodshed in the crowded mall.