Maryland Mall Shooting Profiled

COLUMBIA, Md. (Associated Press©) - The mall where a Maryland teenager gunned down two people before killing himself was set for a somber reopening Monday under increased security as police worked to figure out why the shooting took place and whether the gunman knew either victim.

Investigators found a journal belonging to Darion Marcus Aguilar, 19, but they would only say that it "expressed general unhappiness." The contents, however, were enough for an officer looking into the disappearance of Aguilar on the day of the shooting to worry about the teen's safety.

Police said Aguilar took a taxi to the Mall in Columbia in suburban Baltimore on Saturday morning and entered the building near Zumiez, a shop that sells skateboarding gear. He went downstairs to a food court directly below the store, then returned less than an hour later, dumped the backpack in a dressing room and started shooting.

Shoppers fled in a panic or barricaded themselves behind closed doors. When police arrived, they found three people dead - two store employees and Aguilar.

The shooting baffled investigators and acquaintances of Aguilar, a quiet, skinny teenager who graduated from high school less than a year ago and had no previous run-ins with law enforcement.

Aguilar, who had concealed the shotgun in a bag, fired six to nine times. One victim, Brianna Benlolo, a 21-year-old single mother, lived half a mile away from Aguilar in the same College Park neighborhood, but police said they were still trying to determine what, if any, relationship they had.

The other employee, Tyler Johnson, did not know Aguilar and did not socialize

with Benlolo outside of work, a relative said.

Zumiez chief executive Rick Brooks said in a statement that when the mall reopens, there will be memory books to sign and visitors will be invited to float flowers in the mall's fountain in memory of Benlolo and Johnson.

"Counselors have met with the store team," he said Sunday. "The emotions are very raw and real - and as co-workers and friends, we are pulling together."

Aguilar was accepted last February to Montgomery College, a community college in the Washington suburbs, but school spokesman Marcus Rosano said he never registered or attended.

Tydryn Scott, 19, said she was Aguilar's lab partner in science class at James Hubert Blake High School and said he hung out with other skaters. She said she was stung by the news.

"It was really hurtful, like, wow - someone that I know, someone that I've been in the presence of more than short amounts of time. I've seen this guy in action before. Never upset, never sad, just quiet, just chill," Scott told The Associated Press. "If any other emotion, he was happy, laughing."

Aguilar graduated in 2013.

The Prince George's County Police Department said it received a missing persons report for Aguilar at about 1:40 p.m. Saturday, more than two hours after the mall shooting. Officers went to Aguilar's home to speak with his mother about 5 p.m. and saw Aguilar's journal. The portion the officer read made him concerned for Aguilar's safety, the department said.

Police began tracking Aguilar's phone and soon discovered it was at the mall.

Howard County Police Chief William McMahon said there has been speculation about a romantic relationship between the gunman and Benlolo, but investigators have not been able to establish that.

Aguilar purchased the 12-gauge shotgun legally last month at a store in neighboring Montgomery County.

At his home where he lived with his mother, officers also recovered more ammunition, computers and documents, police said. No one answered the door there Sunday. A half-mile away, a roommate who answered the door at Benlolo's home confirmed that she lived there but declined to comment further. Two police officers went into the home after he spoke briefly to a couple of reporters.

Residents described the neighborhood as a mix of owners and renters, including some University of Maryland students.

A man who answered the phone at Johnson's residence in Mount Airy, northwest of Baltimore, said the family had no comment. The victim's aunt told a local television station she did not believe her nephew knew Aguilar.

Sydney Petty, in a statement to WBAL-TV, said she did not believe her nephew had a relationship with Benlolo.

"Tyler didn't have anything beyond a working relationship with this girl, and he would have mentioned it if he did, and we're just as confused as anybody," Petty said.

Five other people were hurt in the attack, but only one was hit by gunfire - a woman who was hit in the foot upstairs near Zumeiz. All were released from hospitals hours later.

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Maintaining 100% Profiling Accuracy

Okay, now that we have confirmation, I must say that a few minutes after I heard the news reports of this tragic event, I knew that three people were found dead, including, apparently, the shooter.  I was immediately able to profile certain things about this criminal act:

1.)  The perpetrator obviously knew the victims.  I profiled that the police would learn that he had proceeded with obvious intentions of either finding a certain person, or killing a certain person.  

2.)  I predicted that he knew EXACTLY where this would probably occur.  

3.)  Although I didn't make this prediction, (mostly because it was rather obvious), because of the short amount of time between the first 911 call, and the release of the first police informational reports to the media, we have learned that Mr. Aguillar went DIRECTLY to a certain location, where he found what he was looking for.  We now know that, after going to the restaurant, he went directly to the Zoomies store, and killed two employees there.  

4.)  I profiled that he had either been rejected by someone who worked there, or he had been treated badly by the employees of that location, or that there was a love interest, or PERCEIVED love interest involved, and that Mr. Aguillar was obsessed by such fantasies, as to have come to the conclusion that he was being wronged by one or both of the victims.  (We now also know, although the police will not confirm, that he was either an employee there, or a former employee of Zoomies.  And, we know that due to statements made by relatives of Mr. Aguillar.

5.)  Although there has been no mention by the investigators, I also predict that it will eventually come out that the Aguillar was addicted to violent video games, and that he was a very detached individual, who had been bullied by others, in his history at schools attended during his public education.  I seriously doubt any involvement of any private schooling, will be found in his history.  I think the police, (if they are competent to document it), will show that he had MULTIPLE video games and gaming equipment in his room.  The logical extension of this theory is that he had developed an inability to discern the difference between reality and fantasy, and often found himself confusing the two.  This is a pattern, within these shooters, and I would find it easy to predict it will be found, in this case; but ONLY if the people in charge of the investigation know what to look for, as evidence of this condition.

6.)   Although the police have not yet confirmed the content of the "journal' they have in their possession, they have said that they were "extremely concerned for the (Aguillar)'s safety."  I think it's safe to conclude, if it is released to the media, that the content of the "journal" will confirm even more of my profile.

My record of understanding these tragedies is intact, although prevention of them is a task that seems insurmountable, I will percevere toward a solution.

I truly believe that I could assist the parents and relatives of Mr. Aguillar in understanding and dealing with the events surrounding this tragic event, and I will make the necessary efforts to make contact with them to do so.