Police cleared in fatal King of Prussia Mall garage shooting
The armed robbery suspect was allegedly in the midst of a crime spree when he tried to run down officers to escape police, authorities say.
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Upper Merion police officers have been cleared in the fatal shooting of an armed robbery suspect in a crowded King of Prussia Mall parking garage on Oct. 29, the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office said Monday.
Kalin Jackson, 23, of New Castle, Del., was shot when he tried to escape by ramming a stolen car into police and civilian vehicles and then aiming the car at officers, officials said.
"Our investigation determined the facts of this case supported the use of deadly force," District Attorney Kevin Steele said in a statement.
Police said Jackson had been on a crime spree before he was fatally wounded during the confrontation in the mall garage.
Before he arrived in King of Prussia, Jackson was wanted in Delaware in connection with a domestic shooting on Oct. 26 and a carjacking and kidnapping of an elderly man on Oct. 27 in New Castle County, court records showed.
On Oct 28, he jumped into the backseat of a woman's car in the mall garage, held a gun to her head, and demanded her purse around 3:30 p.m., officials said. Jackson fled in a maroon 2012 Kia Sorento he stole during the carjacking and which police were attempting to track electronically.
Nearly 24 hours later, police in Delaware alerted their counterparts in Upper Merion that the car was in the mall garage in the same location as the robbery the day before.
After police shot Jackson, they found a 9mm black-and-pink Glock handgun, and the garage robbery victim's credit cards and driver's license in the car, officials said.
While he was in the hospital, Jackson, who had been shot in the head, was charged with 19 counts, including five felonies for robbery and possession of a firearm without a license. He died Nov. 7 at Paoli Hospital.
Jackson had a lengthy criminal history in Delaware, beginning when he was 16, according to the Wilmington News Journal.
King of Prussia, a 400-plus store complex, contains more retail space than any other mall in the country and attracts more than 20 million shoppers each year.
Staff writer Erin McCarthy contributed to this article.