A gunman entered a shopping mall and began randomly shooting Monday night, killing five people and injuring many others before he was killed, police said.

More than three hours later, police still were searching stores for shocked shoppers and employees who were hunkered down awaiting a safe escort from Trolley Square.

“We have six fatalities and multiple victims at hospitals,” police Detective Robin Snyder said. “They were found throughout the mall. I don’t know male or female or ages.”

At least four people were hospitalized. Two men in critical condition — one 50 and another 16 — were at University Hospital, spokesman Chris Nelson said. Another two people — one in critical and one in serious — were at LDS Hospital, said spokesman Jess Gomez. No other details were available.

The man entered the mall about 6:45 p.m. and began shooting randomly, Snyder said.

The two-story mall, just southeast of downtown, is a refurbished old trolley barn, with a series of winding hallways and about 80 stores, including the Hard Rock Cafe and an Old Spaghetti Factory.

An antique-store owner, Barrett Dodds, 29, said he saw a man in a trench coat exchanging gunfire with a police officer outside a card store. The gunman was backed into a children’s clothing store.

“I saw the cops go in the store. I saw the shooter go down,” said Dodds, who watched from the second floor.

Barb McKeown, 60, of Washington, D.C., was in another antique shop when two frantic women ran in and reported gunshots.

“Then we heard shot after shot after shot — loud, loud, loud,” said McKeown, who believes she heard approximately 20.

She and three other people hid under a store staircase until it was safe to leave.

“We live in Washington, D.C. We’re used to gunshots,” said McKeown, wrapped in a blanket across the street. “I thought I was coming home to safety city.”

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.