MINNEAPOLIS _ A man threw or pushed a 5-year-old boy from a third-floor balcony at the Mall of America on Friday morning, Bloomington police said, with the child suffering "significant injuries."
"I am getting a report that someone threw the child over," one officer on the scene told dispatch over an emergency audio channel.
A 24-year-old man was arrested and is being questioned about the incident, Bloomington Police Chief Jeff Potts said. The suspect's name has not been released.
The boy was taken by ambulance from the mall to Children's Hospital in Minneapolis. No further information on his condition was available.
Police don't know why the child was launched over the railing, Potts said, adding that there doesn't seem to be any connection between the victim, his family and the alleged assailant. Potts said he didn't know whether the victim's family is from Minnesota or visiting from elsewhere.
Police were called to the mall at 10:17 a.m. for a report of a child falling over a railing, but witnesses indicated the child had been "pushed or thrown," Potts said.
The child fell to the first floor, where several witnesses and passers-by tried to perform CPR on him, Potts said. Initial accounts over emergency audio indicated that the child wasn't breathing.
The suspect ran down to the first floor and "was located inside the mall," Potts said. An older man tried to stop the suspect and was assaulted by him, witnesses told police.
Blue Line train service to the mall was suspended for about 45 minutes as police responded to the incident.
Small portions of the south court on the first and third floors remained cordoned off Friday afternoon as lab technicians processed the scene.
Potts said police are looking at security video from inside the mall to gather more information.
"At this point we believe this is an isolated incident," he said. "We're actively trying to figure out why this occurred.
"We don't believe there is a threat to the public at this point."
