This undated photo provided by the Bloomington, Minn., Police Department, shows Emmanuel Deshawn Aranda, who was arrested in connection with an incident at the Mall of America where a 5-year-old boy plummeted three floors Friday, April 12, 2019, after being pushed or thrown from a balcony. less This undated photo provided by the Bloomington, Minn., Police Department, shows Emmanuel Deshawn Aranda, who was arrested in connection with an incident at the Mall of America where a 5-year-old boy plummeted ... more Photo: AP Photo: AP Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close A mother took her child to Mall of America - then a stranger threw him from a balcony 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

The Mall of America had been open only 17 minutes Friday morning when the screaming started.

On the first floor, laying face up between an escalator and the Michael Kors store, was a 5-year-old boy. He had been thrown from three stories above - by a stranger, police say. There was blood; the boy was not moving.

The child's mother asked everyone to pray, witnesses said, and security guards, patrons and police began performing CPR. The boy was rushed to a local hospital with "significant injuries" from the 40-foot fall, authorities said, and was still being treated 24 hours later.

"That's a pretty high fall," Bloomington Police Chief Jeffrey Potts said at a news conference Saturday in Minnesota, describing the scene and his reaction to it. "Immediately, my thoughts were: how can something like this happen?"

Potts called the situation "horrific" and said the department was keeping the boy and his family in their "thoughts and prayers." Because the family has asked for privacy, authorities are not yet releasing the name of the boy. Potts did not offer details about his condition.

"The child is still alive and receiving care," he said.

The suspect, 24-year-old Emmanuel Deshawn Aranda, initially fled on foot, authorities said. A witness tried to stop him, and officers soon after apprehended and arrested the Minneapolis man in the mall's transit station. Aranda faces a preliminary charge of attempted homicide and is being held at the Hennepin County Jail.

"I just hope that little guy turns out OK," witness Michael Baumann told local TV station ABC 5. "I just, you wonder . . . how could anybody do that?"

Records show that Aranda has a history of assault and bad behavior at the Mall of America, a sprawling complex in the Twin Cities suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota, that hosts hundreds of retail stores, restaurants, an amusement park and aquarium and draws 40 million visitors a year.

Aranda has been banished from the mall in past years, though authorities said the trespassing holds had expired by Friday's incident.

In July 2015, he was arrested at the Mall of America on three misdemeanor charges - property damage, disorderly conduct and interfering with a peace officer - after police say Aranda threw items from the upper level of the mall to the lower level. He had also swept his hand across a display table at the beauty store Bare Minerals, breaking lip gloss containers and shot glasses, police said.

Aranda was banned from the mall for one year.

A month later, in August 2015, Aranda told authorities he has "anger issues" when he was arrested on a felony property damage charge at the public library. Aranda had smashed five computers and keyboards "beyond repair" after he read something on Facebook that infuriated him, the man told authorities.

Then in October 2015, Aranda returned to the Mall of America again - in violation of his no-trespass order - and harassed and assaulted a woman inside a restaurant there, records show.

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