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Syracuse Police Chief Reassures Public Destiny USA is Safe After Shooting, Suspect Arrested

John Smith
/
WAER News

The Syracuse Police Chief and Manager of Destiny USA want to reassure shoppers the shooting incident on Black Friday in the food court area was an isolated incident.  Police were alerted shortly after 7 PM and quickly responded to the scene.  Chief Kenton Buckner says a victim was shot twice in the leg. 

Police relied on video and the public assisted them in pointing where the suspects exited the mall.  

“We were on scene within seconds of the incident coming out.  That initial panic; there’s several minutes that go where people are trying to flee the mall because we don’t, what we don’t have.  Where we’re trying to secure that location where we believe the shots fired occurred.   Then we located the victim within a few minutes of arriving there.”

The victim was shot in the leg multiple times and is expected to make a full recovery.  Police were able to quickly match information about the suspect as they responded to a traffic accident that happened after the mall incident.  Buckner says 21 year-old Kyree Truax of Syracuse is charged with 2nd degree criminal possession of a weapon, assault and reckless endangerment charges.  He is currently being held in the Onondaga County Justice Center.  The chief says if the public has any details about individuals at the mall or any locations during the holiday shopping season to let them know.  Above all, he wants reassure people they can enjoy themselves.

“I still think that the mall is very safe and we certainly have proven that when you look at information of how many people can go through there everyday without incident.  I would say that Destiny USA is a safe location.”      

In addition to the mall’s security team, Buckner says they are adding more police officers inside and outside of the mall.  Destiny USA was fully evacuated in a matter of 30 minutes on Friday, even those watching movies who were oblivious to what was going on.  Syracuse Police are currently organizing community counselling services to assist mallgoers who may be dealing with any kind of trauma or emotions from what they experienced in the vicinity of the incident.

John Smith has been waking up WAER listeners for a long time as our Local Co-Host of Morning Edition with timely news and information, working alongside student Sportscasters from the Newhouse School.