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A 24-year-old man was arrested on Friday during an incident in which a 5-year-old could have been pushed or thrown from the balcony of the Mall of America, police said. (April 12)
AP

Police said a 5-year-old boy was hospitalized Saturday after being thrown by an apparent third-floor stranger from a balcony located at the Mall of America, near Minneapolis on Friday.

The boy was seriously injured during the nearly 20-meter drop, Bloomington Police Chief Jeffrey Potts said Saturday.

Emmanuel Deshawn Aranda, 24, of Minneapolis, was arrested after the attack and was sentenced to prison for attempted homicide. Police do not think Aranda knew the victim or his family before the incident.

"(Thanks to) our investigative work and the witnesses we spoke to, we are confident that the suspect threw the third-floor child," CNN told Potts. "But as to why he did that, it's always something we look at and try to understand."

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Aranda had already been banned from the mall – but the ban was not in effect at the time of the incident. He has a history of conviction for misdemeanor; some cases have been handled by a mental health court, Potts said.

The Washington Post reports that Aranda was arrested at the mall in 2015 for property offenses and disorderly behaviors, after the police announced that he had thrown objects from the upper mall and had them broken. in a store.

A lawyer for Aranda does not appear in the prison records.

Contribute: The Associated Press

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