A SWAT situation arose on Thursday afternoon after a fire was ignited inside the Westfield Galleria Mall in Roseville. The dense black smoke of the fire was visible from as far as Sacramento on Highway 50. The aerial shots from the news channels of Sacramento also confirm a partial root collapse of the Galleria Mall.
Reports say a man set fire to the merchandise after entering a video retail store. This seems to be the reason that led to this wild fire. The man is all set to face arson charges.
On Thursday morning the man entered the GameStop store in-between JCPenney’s and Sears inside the mall. He shouted for everyone to empty the store and then ignited the store after pouring kerosene all over. Immediately the authorities were informed.
The man appeared to have a hand gun and kerosene with him. Rumours of gunshots inside the mall were also heard but they were not true.
Visuals showed how the fire had spread to the different parts of the mall and smoke billowed out from the mall. However, the emergency sprinkler system inside the mall helped to bring the fire within an acceptable range and reduced some of its intensity.
The authorities took the suspect into custody shortly after noon. He was also reported to be suffering from smoke inhalation and an ambulance had to be called for him. However, paramedics inspected him and deemed him fit enough to be returned into the custody of the Roseville police. The suspect could still not be identified.
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