'Cold-blooded killer': Shooter in Halloween mask kills customer, 49, and injures restaurant server in Bloomington
BLOOMINGTON, MINNESOTA: Police in Bloomington is probing into a deadly shooting that happened in a Vietnamese restaurant on the day before Thanksgiving. It took place at Cô Tu' Oriental Cuisine, which is close to the 8900 block of Penn Avenue. Booker Hodges, the chief of the Bloomington Police Department, spoke bluntly about the tragedy. Hodges stated as reported by CBS, "The person that did this today is nothing but a cold-blooded killer."
The shooter, who was sporting an old man's Halloween mask and a maroon sweatshirt, allegedly entered the restaurant first and displayed his weapon before opening fire, according to a man who was inside. After being wrestled by a group of patrons twice outside, the man returned inside a third time, firing a warning shot before opening fire and murdering a regular customer, 49 at the restaurant. Additionally, a 25-year-old server was shot twice. He is anticipated to recover.
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According to CBS, Booker Hodges, the chief of the Bloomington Police Department said, "I hope that they decide to turn themselves in, but if they don't, we're gonna find them and we're gonna lock 'em up, period. You don't get to do that in this city and think you're gonna get away with it."
This is not the first event involving gun violence that the city has seen; it has happened at this mall previously. When police arrived once more on Wednesday, November 23, other company owners were thinking about the shooting of Penn Lake Roast Beef's owner in September 2020 during an armed burglary. The incident occurred while Kevan Tran was shutting the restaurant for the evening. Tran, 58, was shot during an attempted robbery while he was closing up shop, and he spent nearly a month in the hospital recovering. "Point gun to me, I thought it was fake gun, I said 'get out of here!'" said Tran. He was in a serious state after being shot three times. In the hopes that Tran would get better, patrons left cards and flowers at the closed restaurant. Tran did recover and was back to work three months later the incident, CBS reported.
Bruce Paro is the owner of Bruce's Penn Lake Barbers. "When am I gonna have to put a gun on? And I don't like guns," He said, " It's hard to talk about, but it seems like the day is coming around the corner when we're gonna have to do that." Paro's barbershop is staying around, even if some of his neighbors have left the center. Paro said, "We're small business owners and we do this for the customers." We will be adding details to the story as it is developing.
A potential reason has not yet been revealed. Anyone with information has been asked to call the police at 952-563-4900.