Howard County Police Chief Bill McMahon gave a brief press conference this afternoon about the shooting at the Mall in Columbia yesterday that left three dead.
Shooter Darion Marcus Aguilar, 19, from College Park had no criminal history as an adult, said McMahon, and bought the gun used to commit the murders legally early in December.
Howard County detectives have seized a diary from the home of Aguilar which expressed unhappiness with his life.
The Prince George’s County Police Department said it received a missing persons report for Aguilar at about 1:40 p.m. Saturday, more than two hours after the mall shooting. Officers went to Aguilar’s home to speak with his mother about 5 p.m. and saw Aguilar’s journal. The portion the officer read made him concerned for Aguilar’s safety, the department said.
Police began tracking Aguilar’s phone and soon discovered it was at the mall.
Howard County Police Chief William McMahon said the journal expressed general unhappiness, but he did not give any specifics about the writings.
‘There are a lot of unanswered questions,’ McMahon said.
McMahon said that the police investigation has not revealed any relationship between the victims and the shooter, but Benlolo and Aguilar lived close to one another.
‘So far, our investigation has not shown a relationship. I’m not saying that it doesn’t exist. We are focusing on any potential relationship, not one victim over the other,’ he said.
McMahon said detectives have interviewed family and friends of the victims and the gunman but still do not have a motive for the crime.
He said the mall will reopen for business on Monday, but that ‘Nothing’s going to go back to normal. This mall is going to be different because of what happened.’
Aguilar can been seen on surveillance footage arriving at the mall at 10:15.
Read more: dailymail.co.uk
