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07-28-2014, 11:19 AM
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Shotgun Attack at a Virginia Mall Campus
A student opened fire with a shotgun inside a community college campus at the New River Valley Mall in Christiansburg, Virginia, on April 12, 2013, wounding two women before an off-duty security guard and police officers wrestled him to the floor, authorities said. Police identified the gunman as Neil Allan MacInnis, 18, who was enrolled at New River Community College's satellite campus at the mall. Officers responded to reports of shots fired shortly before 2 p.m. and had MacInnis in custody within minutes, according to the Christiansburg Police Department. Both women survived. Kristina Bousserghine, a student, was shot in the back and spent five days in the hospital, later undergoing three surgeries, according to the Roanoke Times. Taylor Sharpe, who was working the front desk, was hit in the chest and hand and took cover in a closet, the newspaper reported. Minutes before the shooting, a user identifying himself as MacInnis posted a photograph of the mall entrance to the message board 4chan at 1:52 p.m. with the words "It's time" and a link to a local police scanner feed, ABC News reported. Investigators later said court video showed MacInnis repeatedly trying to fire the weapon before realizing the safety was engaged, which gave several people time to flee. Christiansburg police released recordings of the emergency response about a week and a half later. The batch ran to more than 30 files of 911 calls and police radio traffic, capturing report after report from students, shoppers and mall employees as the attack unfolded. MacInnis pleaded guilty in 2014 to two counts of aggravated malicious wounding and two counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony. On July 23, 2014, a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge sentenced him to 68 years in prison with 30 years suspended, leaving 38 years to serve, according to news accounts of the hearing. The judge described the attack as "cold and calculated" despite testimony about MacInnis's mental illness. ·
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