MARRIOTTSVILLE, Md. — The man who opened fire in a Maryland shopping mall in January, killing two people and then himself, was obsessed with carrying out a massacre similar to that at Columbine High School, authorities said in their first detailed account of the shootings.
Howard County Police Chief William McMahon said Darion Marcus Aguilar, 19, had searched the Internet extensively for information on the 1999 shooting and even timed his opening salvo to 11:14 a.m., the same time two shooters walked into Columbine High School and began their killing spree. Thirteen people died.
Police confirmed that Aguilar intended his attack to be random, and far more deadly. McMahon released the findings at a news conference Wednesday, along with photos and video recordings of Aguilar lingering in the Mall in Columbia, apparently waiting for a precise time to begin his assault, and practicing loading his gun in his bedroom.
