GRAND CHUTE, WI (WTAQ) – After last week’s fatal shooting at the Fox River Mall, Grand Chute Police and mall officials are working together to figure out ways to improve safety at the area’s largest shopping center.
“We will be meeting with representatives of the mall. We have something arranged and our plan is to meet and begin the process of discussing in a debrief fashion, what went on,” said Police Chief Greg Peterson.
That discussion will center around what each side did well, and what they could do better. But Peterson says the mall also expressed early interest in learning about ways the can improve their systems.
“Whether that’s protocols and procedures, whether it’s equipment or technology, remains to be seen. But those discussions are going to begin [this week],” Peterson told the WTAQ Morning News with Matt and Earl.
Meanwhile, Peterson says he’s impressed with many of the stories he’s heard about the actions taken at the mall that day.
“I can’t overstate the tragedy of course of the loss of Jovanni Frausto, but there were hundreds of people in the mall. It could have been a much, much greater tragedy had we had other victims in this situation,” Peterson said. “Part time clerks in clothing stores and whatnot within the mall who reacted so quickly. Locked doors, closed gates, escorted customers and some people who were walking through the main corridors into back store rooms for security purposes…Kudos also to public safety staff at the mall. It was evident that they have trained for this situation as well, because they also did an exceptional job. There are a lot of very positive stories coming out of the mall of people who did what needed to be done at a moment of crisis.”
The suspect in that shooting, 17-year-old Dezman Ellis, was arrested in Des Moines, Iowa on Thursday.
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