NJ Mall Shooting: Richard Shoop, Alleged Garden State Plaza Shooter, Found Dead After Shooting Himself [VIDEO]

A man who walked in a crowded New Jersey mall on Monday night opened fire sending thousands of people running and sparking a mass evacuation of the complex. The gunman, identified as 20-year-old Richard Shoop, of Teaneck, was found in a storage area inside the Garden State Plaza Mall in Paramus around 3:20 a.m., about six hours after the incident began. He was found dead of a self-inflicted wound with a firearm that was meant to look like an AK-47 assault rifle, Bergen County prosecutor, John Molinelli said. Molinelli added that a note was found.

"He left a note," Molinelli said. "It's a bit ambiguous. I'm hesitant to say it's a suicide note. It does express that an end is coming. It could have been prison. It could have been what he did last night." He added, "We know that his intent was either suicide or to do something that would cause police to shoot him, which we call 'suicide by cop.' He had more than enough opportunity to be able to shoot other people," including a group adjacent to him, but he didn't, Molinelli said. "Instead, he shot randomly at different locations." The reasons for the shooting remain unclear.

Officials don't believe Shoop - a pizza deliveryman with a history of drug abuse - intended to hurt anyone other than himself. The 22-caliber assault-style rifle he fired was legally registered to his brother and Shoop had taken it without permission. Once his brother realized both his gun and his motorcycle helmet were missing, he and his girlfriend "started driving around looking at certain areas that Shoop might be," said Molinelli. The brother called authorities after hearing about the shooting and said he thought Shoop might be the gunman. Police did not confirm the shooter's identity until they found his body.

According to the AP, Bergen County spokeswoman Jeanne Baratta said that after news of the shooting broke, SWAT teams concentrated their search in the northeast corner of the 2.2 million-square-foot mall, near a Nordstrom store, believing the suspect might still be in the mall. She said authorities found one bullet casing and hundreds of law enforcement officers converged on the mall, which was put on lockdown. New Jersey State Police landed a helicopter in the parking lot and SWAT teams with K-9 units went through the mall and evacuated anyone who was still there.

Officers did not fire any shots, Molinelli said, and there was only slight damage to the mall. The mall, which has more than 270 stores, is located about 15 miles northwest of Manhattan.