When the news first broke of a 4-year-old boy, who was intentionally thrown over a balcony on the third floor of Minnesota’s Mall of America, by a perfect stranger, the nation was in shock. Immediately following the horrific crime, the Star Tribune reported, that according to the Bloomington police, the child suffered “significant injuries.”
The boy was taken by ambulance from the mall to Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis.
Tina Hailey of Burnsville was walking with her husband and had just rounded the corner on the mall’s first floor near Macy’s when she heard screams.
“Oh, my God.” Pray for my son,” she heard the mother yelled out.
The mother screamed uncontrollably and appeared to be in shock, Hailey said.
“She didn’t know what to do. Nobody was helping her,” she added.
Hailey, who has a 4-year-old grandson, said the screams and the sight of those working to resuscitate the boy likely stay with her for some time.
“I won’t forget it. It was horrific,” she said. “I hope he survived.”
24-year-old Emmanuel Deshawn Aranda, was arrested and charged with attempted homicide after he was apprehended fleeing the Mall of America via the mall transit station.
Landen, the five-year-old boy who was thrown from a third-floor balcony at the Mall of America, is “now alert and conscious,” according to his family.
People – The boy’s family revealed Friday that the boy is no longer in critical condition but does face additional surgeries.
“We are now turning our focus to additional surgeries, healing, rehabilitation and eventually a return home, which we hope will happen by June,” the family wrote in a statement on a GoFundMe page.
The family also thanked the public for all its support.
“We want to personally thank each and every one of you for your love, prayers and support,” the statement read. “We are astounded and so blessed by the over 28,000 individuals and families, from literally around the world, that have donated to our GoFundMe page. Your love and generosity overwhelms and means so much to us! We have no idea where we would be without you – God and your prayers have sustained us.”
Adding: “The road to recovery remains long, but with God and you, we are assured to make it through. Please keep praying for our son and may our loving God bless you and everyone you love.”
The GoFundMe page for the boy has raised more than $1 million as of Friday.
According to Hammond, the medical team said Landen’s injuries were more consistent with a bicycle fall than a three-story plummet.
Family pastor, Mac Hammond, noted the doctors found “zero evidence of brain damage…there wasn’t even swelling in the brain.”
Landen sustained severe head trauma and multiple broken bones in his arms and legs after being thrown from the third floor of the Mall of America in Minnesota, allegedly by Emmanuel Deshawn Aranda, 24.
