North Liberty man charged in fatal mall shooting

A North Liberty man has been charged with first-degree murder in a shooting Friday night at Coral Ridge Mall that left a 20-year-old woman dead.

Alexander Matthew Kozak, 22, of North Liberty is in custody and is the only suspect in the shooting, Coralville police said early Saturday. Kozak is awaiting an initial appearance in Johnson County District Court on the Class A felony.

The victim's name is not being released pending notification of the family.

Witnesses told the Press-Citizen that several shots rang out in the food court area near the carousel entrance at about 7:30 p.m.

Police say the victim, who had multiple gunshot wounds, was transported to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics but did not survive.

According to a press release from Coralville police, witnesses helped them quickly identify the name of the suspect and his vehicle information was broadcast to surrounding law enforcement agencies. The Iowa State Patrol located the vehicle eastbound on Interstate 80 near Davenport and took Kozak into custody without incident.

According to the Coral Ridge Mall website, the mall will remain closed until further notice.

Ryan Ross, who works at a mall kiosk, said he recognized the shooter as a security officer who had been fired earlier in the day.

Ross said after he heard the shots fired, the shooter walked past him.

"He made eye contact with me, I saw the gun and he sprinted off" down the main corridor of the mall, Ross said.

Jeff Carew of Tiffin said he was within feet of the victim when the shooting happened.

"I heard three shots and watched the girl fall," Carew said.

Carew said the victim was shot in the back with a handgun and that the shooter was a young male wearing a black hat and black vest.

He said he and others tried to assist the victim with him trying to stop the bleeding while another man performed CPR.

Alex Halter of Iowa City also saw the victim.

"I was heading toward the food court and heard three gunshots and in 10 seconds everyone was running," Halter said.

Chizom Ekpunobi, 22, had just seen the movie "Entourage" at Coral Ridge Cinema and stayed to watch the extended footage after the credits ended.

"If we hadn't stayed to watch the rest of the movie and left earlier, because I had a craving for Chick-fil-A, we would have been right there," Ekpunobi said.

She said she was on her way to the food court when the shooting happened.

"They rung out. We heard a couple of shots. At first we thought it was fireworks or the mall falling apart and when we realized what had happened and saw everyone else running out of the mall, we didn't stop to think. We just followed," she said.

Henry Seidlin, 22, a server at Mellow Mushroom, a new restaurant at the mall adjacent to the carousel and Target, said he was carrying plates to a table when he heard two or three shots.

"I saw everyone running and I got out of there, too. Most people were hiding in the corner by Target or running out straight to their cars just to get away," Seidlin said.

Tate Holdren, 23, who works in the kitchen at Mellow Mushroom, said that people were helping each other get out of the restaurant as quickly as they could.

"You could feel the adrenaline in your body after you hear something like that," Holdren said of the gunshots.

Crystal Fernandez, 16, of West Liberty, was shopping with her stepdad at Younkers when a store clerk told them they had to bring the cage doors down to block the entrance to the mall concourse because there had been a shooting.

"I wondered if I was going to be OK or not," she said.Fernandez said they were allowed out of the store at about 8:30 p.m., and had to leave through a specific exit near the carousel.

"It was a scary experience, but I'm glad to be out safe," she said.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety said there were no other injuries due to the shooting.