A shooting at a Stanford Shopping Center parking lot left a man with hand and foot injuries on Thursday night, Palo Alto police said.
The shooting happened around 9:40 p.m. in a parking lot at the mall, police initially said. The man's injuries were not life threatening, and the shooter fled in a car.
The man's girlfriend drove him to a hospital and called the Police Department's emergency dispatch center, police said in a statement released on Friday morning. She told a dispatcher that the man had recently been shot in the parking lot of the Stanford Shopping Center at 180 El Camino Real.
Police hadn't received any other calls from the community about shots being fired or any sort of suspicious circumstance in the parking lot, the department said. Officers responded to the scene and met with the man and the woman. Police found an expended casing from a .40-caliber handgun at the scene and will be processing it for evidence, they said.
The man, who is in his 20s, and his girlfriend had just returned to their parked vehicle on the east side of the shopping center. As he was getting into the car, a person approached him and fired two shots. One struck him in his hand, and the other struck him in his foot. The suspect then fled the scene, they told police.
As of Friday morning, the man was not cooperating with the police investigation and hasn't provided law enforcement with additional information.
Police found a witness at the scene. The individual hadn't called the police to report what they had seen. The person said they saw the shooter run up to the man after getting out of the back seat of a white BMW. The shooter ran back to the BMW and got into the back seat after firing the gun. The vehicle fled east through the parking lot.
The witness described the shooter as a male wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, about 5 feet, 6 inches tall, with a slim build. There is no description of the BMW driver.
Police said they have reviewed preliminary surveillance video from the scene but have not located footage of the incident. If additional footage is found and the images would help identify the shooter or the suspect car, police will release it to the community, they said.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call Palo Alto Police Department's 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be emailed to [email protected] or sent by text message or voicemail to 650-383-8984.
Comments
Registered user
Adobe-Meadow
on Feb 11, 2022 at 5:27 am
Registered user
on Feb 11, 2022 at 5:27 am
I recall former mayor fine giving a speech in 2020 to a credulous crowd gathered at King Plaza. He told him how he was going to fix our “unreformed” police department. Then City Hall defunded them by 20% and many left to find a community that didn’t pay for art celebrating people on the FBI’s most wanted list. Were I a police officer in Palo Alto I would carefully weigh the likelihood of the community’s outrage or possible legal charges against me before I attempted to arrest any criminal, knowing they’ve been empowered by society to resist and fight me. Where did we think all this would lead?
Registered user
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Feb 11, 2022 at 6:51 am
Registered user
on Feb 11, 2022 at 6:51 am
Correction @ john - Palo Alto never “defunded” the police with the intention you mean. The City did so due to a severe budget crisis when Covid hit and revenue plunged.
There was no choice but to make cuts in City services across the board including Fire and Police Depts. Hiring freezes were put in place, but no police officers were laid off. There was no intention to target or “defund the police”, only to keep the City afloat until revenue stabilized.
We are recovering economically, so the City Council just authorized hiring 5 police officers along with other new hires for other Departments.
As to the BLM mural, art often stimulates thinking, emotion, disagreement and discussion. That’s a good thing, not a reason for its destruction or banning. I too have thoughts and feelings about the mural, though different than yours.
Registered user
Palo Alto Hills
on Feb 11, 2022 at 8:35 am
Registered user
on Feb 11, 2022 at 8:35 am
Ladies were robbed of their purses and now a shooting. Is Stanford shopping center safe anymore?
Registered user
Adobe-Meadow
on Feb 11, 2022 at 8:37 am
Registered user
on Feb 11, 2022 at 8:37 am
@felix- at least 14 layoffs occurred in the police department at that time. It wasn’t highlighted locally for some reason. A bit of internet sleuthing will give you details.
Nobody is supporting banning art. Just understand that actions have consequences.
Registered user
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Feb 11, 2022 at 9:40 am
Registered user
on Feb 11, 2022 at 9:40 am
Two points, crime is dreadful whatever it is, and when we read about things like this we are right to be concerned. Thankfully the injuries were not severe, but what would we be saying if it was worse this time.
Secondly, please stop painting art on our streets. Self Drive cars, trucks, robot delivery vehicles, will not be able to handle them. We need to keep recognized street surfaces free of anything other than road striping and safety signs. Our streets are not blank canvasses for artists, they are dangerous places where safety should be top priority and anything to make stripes and similar invisible is dangerous. This trend must stop. The fish on Louis are a very bad distraction as the children crossing there look at the fish not for approaching vehicles.
Registered user
Portola Valley
on Feb 11, 2022 at 12:35 pm
Registered user
on Feb 11, 2022 at 12:35 pm
This is a great social study. What is the elasticity of the Bay Area liberal voter when it comes to crime, inflation, ineptitude, corruption and a lower quality of life?
Registered user
Stanford
on Feb 11, 2022 at 3:21 pm
Registered user
on Feb 11, 2022 at 3:21 pm
"...the man was not cooperating with the police investigation and hasn't provided law enforcement with additional information."
From the description it doesn't sound like an robbery. More like an attempted hit. The victim likely knows his attacker.
Registered user
East Palo Alto
on Feb 11, 2022 at 3:25 pm
Registered user
on Feb 11, 2022 at 3:25 pm
I’m with Screeedek, doesn’t sound like a robbery at all.
Registered user
Downtown North
on Feb 11, 2022 at 4:26 pm
Registered user
on Feb 11, 2022 at 4:26 pm
The cost of living continues to increase, and the quality of life continues to decrease (with this shooting being but one of many examples). How long can the cognitive dissonance that creates such a situation continue, before something gives?
Registered user
Old Palo Alto
on Feb 11, 2022 at 10:26 pm
Registered user
on Feb 11, 2022 at 10:26 pm
The wage, housing, education gap is a gulf with deep fault lines — the Pandemic has hurried the crisis along. Wall Street cut off Main Street around 1974 . Prop 13, Tech revolution, Great Recession and COVID is nailing the lid down tight on average Joe and Jill Americans. Easier to own a gun then have a home, an education or a decent paying job. 300 million guns in USA. Enough for every man woman child and a pet to have a fire arm. Q: what will you sacrifice to make life better for others with less?
Registered user
Evergreen Park
on Feb 11, 2022 at 11:15 pm
Registered user
on Feb 11, 2022 at 11:15 pm
Agreed. He victim knows more than he is telling.
Registered user
College Terrace
on Feb 12, 2022 at 10:50 am
Registered user
on Feb 12, 2022 at 10:50 am
There are some highly peculiar aspects to this story, starting with the victim's unwillingness to cooperate. Add to that the failure of the witness to call 911. Who watches someone get shot, twice, and doesn't call 911 - but does hang around to be "found" by the police? Any why didn't the girlfriend call 911 instead of driving her shot-up boyfriend to "a" hospital?