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Mall of America settles lawsuit involving child thrown over railing

The Mall of America has settled a lawsuit in a case where a small child was thrown over a third-floor railing.

The boy, who was only identified as Landen and was 5 at the time of the incident, was injured but survived.

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Emmanuel Aranda picked up the boy and threw him over the railing to the ground about 40 feet below, The Associated Press reported

The incident happened while Landen was standing with his mother outside Rain Forest Cafe on April 12, 2019, CNN reported.

Aranda had been banned from the mall twice before that day for causing a disturbance. He had told police that he went to the shopping destination “looking for someone to kill” after several women rejected his advances.

Aranda pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder and was sentenced to 19 years in prison.

The child’s family said that mall security should have prevented Aranda from “prowling” at the property without having an officer keeping tabs on him and that security knew about Aranda’s “violent, aggressive, and erratic” behavior, the AP reported.

The mall will have tougher trespassing policies as part of the settlement, but no other details surrounding the agreement were disclosed.

The family asked that any policy changes be named for Landen, CNN reported.

The child had to undergo more than 15 medical procedures, according to a GoFundMe page set up by his parents. Landen suffered two broken arms, a broken leg, facial fractures, skull fractures and the removal of his spleen. Medical expenses had surpassed $1.7 million at the time of the lawsuit filing.

Landen was released from the hospital in 2019 and eventually returned to school with his sister and twin brother, CNN reported.


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