MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — A 17-year-old has been charged as an adult following a shooting inside Westfield Wheaton Mall that left a 13-year-old injured.
Officers with the Montgomery County Police Department responded to Wheaton Mall in the 11000 block of Veirs Mill Road at approximately 6 p.m.
A teen was shot in the leg and transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Police say the suspect, later identified as Diego Rafael Turcios Avalos, was sitting near a Cinnabon on the mall's lower level when he allegedly stood up, pulled out a gun, and fired several rounds, striking the 13-year-old victim.
A security officer inside the mall arrested Turcios Avalos after he fled toward a nearby Dick's Sporting Goods store and held him until police arrived.
He has been charged with attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, use of a firearm in the commission of a violent felony, carrying a loaded handgun on his person and possession of a firearm by a minor.
No other injuries have been reported, and the investigation remains ongoing.
