A man involved in a shootout at Tanger Outlets has been sentenced to 8 years and 10 months in prison, according to Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell on Jan. 19. The Glendale mall incident, which turned violent on March 23, 2022, injured several individuals, including a 4-year-old child. Raul Franco, 17 at the time but prosecuted as an adult, exchanged gunfire with another group after a verbal altercation, as reported by FOX 10 Phoenix.
Mitchell commented on the case, saying, "Not only did this defendant’s actions harm innocent people, he also caused panic and fear for hundreds who were simply out shopping that day", as reported by FOX 10 Phoenix. The cases leading to Franco's sentencing were prosecuted by both Maricopa County and the Arizona Attorney General's Office.
Details of the shootout were also released, shedding light on the escalation of events that day. According to court documents, Franco drew a handgun from his backpack and fired at the ground in an attempt to scare off the group approaching him and his family. However, the situation quickly deteriorated into an exchange of gunfire when one of the victims began shooting back. The property sustained approximately $10,000 in damages from the shootout, as disclosed by FOX 10 Phoenix.
In the immediate aftermath, first responders rushed a 4-year-old boy, his mother, and a teenage boy to the hospital, with the child in critical condition. The violence caused an uproar and forced stores to adopt lockdown procedures. Police have emphasized that this was an isolated incident and not an active shooter situation, though the response was swift and treated with utmost seriousness. "There were people that had already sheltered in place. Those responders had to go door to door, room to room, store to store," explained former Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) Director Frank Milstead in a statement obtained by FOX 10 Phoenix.
As for Franco, his history involves prior arrests and convictions related to drug offenses and he was on probation from a drug conviction in 2019 at the time of the shooting. This case reflects a troubling trend; the Glendale area has witnessed several other shootings in recent years. In May 2020, another shooting occurred near the Westgate Entertainment District, with the suspect wounding three and facing subsequent indictment on numerous charges
