2019 Mall of America murder attempt
{{Short description|2019 attempted murder in Bloomington, Minnesota}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{coord|44.8535|-93.2406|region:XXXX_type:event|display=title}}
{{Infobox event
| title = 2019 Mall of America murder attempt
| image = Mall of America 49.jpg
| image_alt =
| caption = Interior of the Mall of America from the third floor
| time = Around 10 a.m.
| date = {{start date|2019|04|12}}
| venue = Mall of America
| location = Bloomington, Minnesota
| motive = Anger over rejection by women
| target =
| perpetrator = Emmanuel Deshawn Aranda
| reported injuries = 1, Landen Hoffmann
| arrests = 1
| accused =
| deaths = 0
| convicted =
| charges = Attempted murder
| sentence = 19 years in prison
| website =
| notes =
}}
On April 12, 2019, five-year-old Landen Hoffmann was tossed from the third floor at Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. Falling around {{convert|40|feet|m}}, the boy suffered life-threatening injuries. Emmanuel Aranda, a 24-year-old man from Minneapolis, was charged with attempted murder. In June 2019, Aranda was sentenced to 19 years in prison. The boy underwent multiple surgeries for broken bones and injured organs. He was able to return to his school in time for his first day of kindergarten that autumn.
Attack
Around 10 a.m. on April 12, 2019, a man approached five-year-old Landen Hoffmann and his mother Kari, who were standing near the Rainforest Café on the third floor of the Mall of America.{{cite news |last1=Yamada |first1=Haley |title='The miracle of Landen': Mom whose son was thrown off a balcony at Mall of America speaks out |url=https://abc7.com/boy-thrown-balcony-at-mall-of-america-kari-hoffmann-landen-hoffman-miraculous-recovery/12569287/ |access-date=February 20, 2025 |work=ABC7 Los Angeles |date=December 14, 2022 |language=en |archive-date=February 17, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250217033036/https://abc7.com/boy-thrown-balcony-at-mall-of-america-kari-hoffmann-landen-hoffman-miraculous-recovery/12569287/ |url-status=live }} Landen's mother asked the man if they were in his way, and the man responded by picking up Landen and throwing him over the edge of the balcony. He fell nearly {{convert|40|feet|m}}, suffering life-threatening injuries.{{cite news |last1=Sepic |first1=Matt |title=Police: Suspect arrested after child falls from MOA's 3rd floor |url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/04/12/mall-of-america-5-year-old-hurt-fall-suspect-arrested |access-date=February 20, 2025 |work=MPR News |date=April 12, 2019 |language=en |archive-date=November 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108205446/https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/04/12/mall-of-america-5-year-old-hurt-fall-suspect-arrested |url-status=live }} Police immediately administered first aid to the child, who was subsequently transported to the Minneapolis Children's Hospital.{{cite news |last1=Nelson |first1=Julie |title=Landen's story: A journey of hope and healing |url=https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/kare11-extras/landens-story-journey-of-hope-and-healing/89-d24892d5-ccd6-4742-9651-65e1fddcc37d |work=KARE |date=February 2, 2023}}
The man attempted to flee, but was caught by police trying to board a light rail train at Mall of America station. Emmanuel Deshawn Aranda (born August 23, 1994), a 24-year-old man from Minneapolis, told police that he was angry after being rejected by women and was planning to kill an adult standing near the balcony, but opted for the boy instead.{{cite news |last1=Andone |first1=Dakin |title=A man is in custody after witnesses say he threw or pushed a child from a third floor Mall of America balcony |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/12/us/mall-of-america-child-thrown/index.html |access-date=February 20, 2025 |work=CNN |date=April 12, 2019 |language=en |archive-date=July 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240701202400/https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/12/us/mall-of-america-child-thrown/index.html |url-status=live }} Security footage showed that Aranda had approached the edge of the balcony several times before walking up to Landen.{{cite news |last1=Reinan |first1=John |title=Man accused in attack on 5-year-old boy at Mall of America appears in court |url=https://www.startribune.com/man-accused-in-attack-on-5-year-old-boy-at-mall-of-america-appears-in-court/508655342 |access-date=February 20, 2025 |work=Star Tribune |date=April 17, 2019 |language=en}}
Perpetrator
Aranda had a history of arrests at the mall. In 2015, he had been arrested after throwing objects from the mall's upper levels, and received a one-year trespass order. He was arrested again at the mall just a few weeks later after harassing two women and throwing items at patrons in a mall restaurant. He had also been arrested several times in Illinois for assault, theft, and property damage.{{cite news |last1=Helsel |first1=Phil |last2=Fieldstadt |first2=Elisha |title=Man faces attempted homicide charge in 5-year-old's fall from Mall of American balcony |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/suspect-arrested-after-5-year-old-plummets-mall-america-balcony-n993931 |access-date=February 20, 2025 |work=NBC News |date=April 13, 2019 |language=en |archive-date=September 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929024935/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/suspect-arrested-after-5-year-old-plummets-mall-america-balcony-n993931 |url-status=live }} Aranda had also been subject to court-ordered mental health treatment. One day prior to the 2019 attack he visited the mall with the intention to kill an adult but was unsuccessful. Following his arrest, he stated that he had often visited the mall seeking to speak to women, but their rejections of him made him lash out.
Aranda was charged with attempted first-degree murder on April 15, 2019. His bail was set at $2 million.{{cite news |last1=Madani |first1=Doha |title=Man charged in 5-year-old's Mall of America fall told police he had a plan to kill |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/man-charged-5-year-old-s-mall-america-fall-told-n995111 |access-date=February 20, 2025 |work=NBC News |date=April 16, 2019 |language=en |archive-date=December 16, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241216092042/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/man-charged-5-year-old-s-mall-america-fall-told-n995111 |url-status=live }} One month later, Aranda pled guilty. The prosecutor's office sought the maximum punishment of 19 years in prison.{{cite news |last1=Alonso |first1=Melissa |last2=McLaughlin |first2=Eliott |title=Man pleads guilty to tossing boy, 5, over Mall of America railing |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/14/us/mall-of-america-boy-guilty-plea/index.html |access-date=February 20, 2025 |work=CNN |date=May 14, 2019 |language=en |archive-date=December 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221212053025/https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/14/us/mall-of-america-boy-guilty-plea/index.html |url-status=live }} He received the full 19-year sentence on June 3, 2019.{{cite news |last1=Alonso |first1=Melissa |last2=Croft |first2=Jay |title=Man gets 19 years for throwing a boy from a balcony at Mall of America |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/03/us/mall-of-america-boy-sentencing/index.html |access-date=February 20, 2025 |work=CNN |date=June 3, 2019 |language=en |archive-date=February 23, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240223014724/https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/03/us/mall-of-america-boy-sentencing/index.html |url-status=live }} {{as of|2025}}, he is incarcerated at MCF Moose Lake.{{cite web |title=Information |url=https://coms.doc.state.mn.us/publicviewer/OffenderDetails/Index/259515/Search |website=Locator |publisher=MN Department of Corrections |access-date=February 20, 2025 |archive-date=December 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207213640/https://coms.doc.state.mn.us/publicviewer/OffenderDetails/Index/259515/Search |url-status=live }} He is expected to be released from prison in 2031 and serve the remainder of his sentence under court supervision.
Victim
Landen Hoffmann, five years old at the time of the attack, received surgeries for broken arms, a broken leg, and skull fractures; his spleen was also removed.{{cite news |title=Mall of America settles lawsuit over 5-year-old boy thrown from balcony |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mall-america-settles-lawsuit-5-year-old-boy-thrown-balcony-rcna60301 |access-date=February 20, 2025 |work=NBC News |agency=Associated Press |date=December 6, 2022 |language=en |archive-date=May 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240522140912/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mall-america-settles-lawsuit-5-year-old-boy-thrown-balcony-rcna60301 |url-status=live }} A GoFundMe page for medical costs raised more than $1 million. After two weeks in critical condition, Landen was announced to be "alert and conscious" by his family. Landen was released from the hospital in August, and attended his first day of kindergarten five days later.{{cite news |last1=Yamada |first1=Haley |title=Mom whose son was thrown off a balcony at Mall of America speaks out |url=https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/News/mom-son-thrown-off-balcony-mall-america-speaks/story?id=95163458 |access-date=February 20, 2025 |work=ABC News |date=December 14, 2022 |language=en |archive-date=April 13, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240413162037/https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/News/mom-son-thrown-off-balcony-mall-america-speaks/story?id=95163458 |url-status=live }} By November, he was walking without a limp.{{cite news |last1=Padilla |first1=Mariel |title=5-Year-Old Boy Thrown From Mall of America Balcony Is Walking Again |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/24/us/mall-of-america-boy-recovery.html |access-date=February 20, 2025 |work=The New York Times |date=November 24, 2019 |archive-date=December 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241212170738/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/24/us/mall-of-america-boy-recovery.html |url-status=live }} Landen suffered amnesia and does not remember the incident; the trauma to his frontal lobe caused his personality to shift from shy and quiet to more loud and impulsive.
In 2021, the family filed a lawsuit against the Mall of America, citing negligence and seeking remuneration for medical costs and pain and suffering. The medical bills were alleged to be in excess of $1.75 million. The family alleged that mall security was negligent in not preventing Aranda from prowling about the mall due to their knowledge of his previous violent and aggressive behavior. A confidential settlement was reached with the mall in December 2022.{{cite news |last1=Razek |first1=Raja |last2=Babineau |first2=Andi |title=Family of boy thrown from third-floor Mall of America balcony reaches settlement with the mall, attorneys say |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/06/us/boy-thrown-mall-of-america-settlement/index.html |access-date=February 20, 2025 |work=CNN |date=December 6, 2022 |language=en |archive-date=March 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324110704/https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/06/us/boy-thrown-mall-of-america-settlement/index.html |url-status=live }}
After telling Good Morning America that Alex Ovechkin was his favorite hockey player, Landen, a fan of the Minnesota Wild, was invited to meet Ovechkin and Kirill Kaprizov after a Wild game in March 2023.{{cite news |last1=Walsh |first1=Paul |title=NHL stars Kirill Kaprizov, Alex Ovechkin meet boy who survived being thrown off MOA balcony |url=https://www.startribune.com/article/600260374 |access-date=20 February 2025 |work=Star Tribune |date=20 March 2023 |language=en}}