MINNEAPOLIS _ A man threw a 5-year-old child from a third-floor balcony at the Mall of America on Friday morning, according to emergency dispatch audio and police reports.
"I am getting a report that someone threw the child over," one officer on the scene told dispatch. The Bloomington Police Department later tweeted from its verified account that the child is 5 years old.
The incident unfolded on the south side of the mall, with the child falling from the third to the first floors, according to dispatch. The child was initially reported to be not breathing.
A man in his 60s tried to stop the suspect but was assaulted by him, according to the audio.
The suspect, described as middle-aged, ran down to the first floor, across the rotunda and to the light rail station. He was spotted on a light rail train and apprehended.
Train service was suspended for about 45 minutes as police responded to the incident.
Allina Health confirmed that a child was taken by ambulance from the mall to Children's Hospital in Minneapolis, but no other information was available.
