Suspect at large; car found in Oshkosh
GRAND CHUTE – Police have found the car believed to have been connected to the fatal shooting Sunday afternoon at the Fox River Mall.
At 7:30 a.m. Monday, police got a tip that the car, a blue 2012 Dodge Avenger, was parked in the 200 block of West 20th Avenue in Oshkosh, the Oshkosh Police Department said early Monday afternoon.
When officers from Grand Chute and Oshkosh arrived at the scene, four people at the residence “became physically combative” with the officers, police said. Those four people — a 15-year-old boy, a 16-year-old girl, an 18-year-old woman and a 37-year-old woman — all were arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct and resisting police.
Police still are looking for 17-year-old Dezman V. Ellis for questioning about his involvement in the shooting. Ellis was believed to have been riding in the car, police said.
The shooting at the Fox River Mall that left one dead and one injured was a targeted attack, police said Monday.
“This incident was a targeted event and not just a random act of violence” where the shooter decided to open fire inside the mall, Travis Waas, public information officer for Grand Chute police, told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin.
Police said Ellis is considered armed and dangerous. “If located, do not confront him,” Waas said. “Contact law enforcement immediately.”
Anyone with information about the shooting should call Grand Chute police at 920-832-1575 or send a tip by texting TIPGCPD, followed by the tip, to 847411.
Police identified the man who died in the shooting as Jovanni J. Frausto, 19, of Neenah. The other victim was treated for minor injuries and released from a hospital.
Frausto’s mother, Tanya Frausto, has created a GoFundMe page, hoping to raise $15,000 for funeral expenses.
“I am a single mother of 4,” the message on the page says. “My son was senselessly murdered on January 31st, 2021 at the Fox River Mall in Grand Chute, Wisconsin. I need funds to help pay for funeral expenses as I never expected to have to bury my 19-year-old son to gun violence. This would cover his viewing and his cremation expenses. Anything would help and be greatly appreciated. This is a difficult time for our family and we ask for your prayers.”
Police responded to the mall around 3:30 p.m. Sunday for reports that shots were fired inside the mall near the food court. Waas said the shooter left the mall before officers arrived at the scene.
Some shoppers fled the mall in the aftermath of the shooting.
Christie Powers of Oshkosh and her 13-year-old daughter, Brooklyn, were standing at a kiosk near Zumiez when three girls ran past them. She looked back to see more people running and screaming.
“I grabbed my daughter’s hand and said we need to get out and just followed my intuition,” she said.
Powers said many people ran toward Macy’s. To avoid the crowd and commotion, the two headed down a corridor and went out the north end into the Sears parking lot.
“All we knew was there were gunshots and everybody was running,” she said. “I said to her, ‘If anything happens to me, just keep running,’ because she needed to know not to stop.”
“Everybody was just panicking trying to get out,” Powers continued. “It’s a big mall. You don’t know what’s happening at the other end.”
Other mall customers, along with mall store employees, found places to hide. Authorities directed people inside the mall to shelter in place.
It took about five hours for police to escort out all of the people who had sheltered in place. Waas didn’t know how many people that was.
“The mall is always busy,” he said.
Fox River Mall officials announced that the mall was closed Monday, though stores and restaurants with outside entrances were allowed to open.
A reporter found Target, Scheels, Macy’s and JCPenney were open for business.
Store employees said they weren’t authorized to speak about Sunday’s events, and a number of customers declined to comment.
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Lindsay Kahn, a spokeswoman for mall owner Brookfield Properties, said the mall will reopen Tuesday with an enhanced police presence. She said the mall has an active shooter plan in place, among other security measures.
The company also is bringing in grief counselors for the mall’s tenants.
“We’re the community shopping center — we are that hub, we are that destination in the Fox Valley,” Kahn said. “It is just incredibly sad and very upsetting and disheartening and horrible that this kind of isolated incident took place at our center.”
Grand Chute police had officers in its satellite office at the mall when the 911 call was made. The office is in the Sears wing.
“Within seconds, we had additional officers on scene,” Waas said. “I think it’s safe to say just about every agency here in Outagamie County was represented.”
Grand Chute credited 16 agencies for their assistance Sunday but even more surfaced Monday. Waas said the response and teamwork were “absolutely incredible.”
Agencies that assisted Grand Chute police included the Outagamie and Winnebago county sheriff’s offices; Appleton, Fox Valley Metro, Kaukauna, Oneida, Neenah, Fox Crossing, Menasha and Oshkosh police departments; Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation; Wisconsin State Patrol; Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources; Grand Chute, Appleton and Kaukauna fire departments; Gold Gross Ambulance; Fox Cities Victim Crisis Response Team; and Outagamie County Community Emergency Response Team.
Waas said federal resources also were involved.
Grand Chute police periodically participate in active shooter trainings, and one of the sites for the training is the Fox River Mall.
Contact Duke Behnke at 920-993-7176 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @DukeBehnke. Reporters Sami West and Benita Mathew contributed to this story.