A 5-year-old child suffered life-threatening injuries when, according to witnesses, a man either threw or pushed the child from the third floor of the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, police said Friday.
Bloomington police Chief Jeff Potts told reporters that police were called to the mall at 10:17 a.m. local time, and initial information suggested a child had fallen from the third level of the mall's interior to the first level.
Additional information from witnesses indicated the 5-year-old might have been pushed or thrown, Potts said.
Police officers gave the child first aid along with witnesses, Potts said.
"The child did suffer significant injuries," he said. "The child has been transported to the hospital and has been receiving care."
Police said in a later statement that the child's injuries were life-threatening.
According to Potts, witnesses told police the person suspected of pushing or throwing the child "took off running immediately after the incident." The suspect, a 24-year-old man, was soon found inside the mall's transit station and was taken into custody.
He's currently at the Bloomington Police Department, Potts said, and authorities don't believe there is any further threat to the public.
"At this time, we do not believe that there is a relationship between the child or the family of the child," Potts said, emphasizing that police believe this to be an "isolated incident."
The area where the fall occurred has been closed.
A witness told CNN affiliate WCCO that the child's mother was screaming that someone had thrown her child from the balcony.
"She was screaming, 'Everyone pray, everyone pray. Oh my God, my baby, someone threw him over the edge,'" Brian Johnson told WCCO.
A Mall of America spokesperson said in a statement that any additional information about the incident will come from police.
