The crazed gunman who shot up a New Jersey mall before killing himself early Tuesday was an ecstasy using, drug dealing pizza deliveryman on a strange suicide mission, authorities and friends said yesterday.
Richard Shoop of Teaneck, NJ, killed himself in the basement of Paramus’ Garden State Plaza hours after spraying shots from a stolen gun and spreading panic throughout the massive mall, cops said.
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Officials said Shoop left a note, and had no apparent intention to hurt anyone besides himself.
Shoop left behind a note suggesting the “end was coming,” said Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli. “That could mean going to jail, getting arrested, or it could mean suicide.”
Authorities said most of the minimal damage sustained at the mall came from forced entry when emergency responders tried to free frightened mall customers from behind locked doors and gates where they took refuge after the shots were fired shortly before 9:30 pm Monday when the mall was scheduled to close.
Molinelli said the gunman’s family also suspected trouble when his brother, Kevin, noticed his gun and motorcycle helmet were missing.
“[The brother] and his girlfriend started driving around looking at certain areas that [Shoop] might be,” Molinelli said.
“They heard on the radio about what was happening here with the active shooter. They suspected it was him. They came, they told us,” he said, adding that they didn’t confirm Shoop was the gunman until they found his body.
“My brother intended to harm nobody else but himself,” Kevin Shoop said. “He just sadly decided to make it an act, an act of I guess of self-indulgence by taking his own life publicly and it’s a tragedy to us all. So we’re going to now handle matters and deal with it.
“This was a sporadic act this was something that none of us saw coming. So we’re not sure exactly what caused him to do this and I mean were all devastated.
“He used a weapon that did not belong to him and he took his life with it. As far as anything goes into the drugs or any of the other rumors, no comment.”
Robert Gega, manager of Victor’s Pizzeria in Teaneck, where Shoop worked on and off for four years said he noticed subtle changes in Shoop’s behavior the past two weeks.
“He was really keeping to himself, he was not opening up as much,” Gega said. “I didn’t ask him. I left him alone because I thought he was having some girl troubles. He was working hard but he was just a little more private. I am shocked. He isn’t violent. He worked on Thursdays until 11 pm. He didn’t show up the next day and that isn’t him. I texted him but I figured he went to a party but then when he didn’t show up Saturday or Sunday I thought something was wrong. I sent him like a hundred texts. I drove by his house. Then I saw this on the news yesterday. He never spoke about guns. He never used a gun. He didn’t play games with guns.”
Officials said Shoop squeezed off shots from a handgun modified to look like an AK47 assault rifle.
The developments concluded a frantic night that left shoppers panicked and scrambling – with the gunman terrorizing the huge mall by casually firing shots in the air.
The situation unfolded at about 9:20 p.m., when the Shoop, clad in black body armor and a biker helmet, taunted workers and shoppers as he squeezed the trigger.
“He was waving at people, doing wise-ass things,” said a worker at a mall kiosk who gave his name as Michael.
“People were running and screaming. I just ran. It happened so fast.”
Shoop’s friends said they were shocked over the news.
“It doesn’t make sense, said co-worker Greg Garner. 20 “He wasn’t that type. He must have had personal issues and he didn’t tell anyone. I would see him on a daily basis. I saw him A week ago at a party it was a Halloween party. He was fine. He’s a hard worker and a good kid who made me laugh every time I was in the shop.”
Customers who rushed out without their keys had to call locksmiths to retrieve their cars.
The mall remained closed Tuesday.