COLUMBIA, Md -- Howard County police report the investigation into Columbia Mall shooter Darion Aguilar has expanded to include his financial records in an attempt to reconstruct his activities leading up to the Saturday attack.
Even so police say they have no new information on a possible motive. Scouring of Aguilar's seized computer and the cell phone taken from his body continues, police said.
Aguilar killed store employees Tyler Johnson and Brianna Benlolo at the Columbia Mall Saturday in a shotgun attack inside the Zumiez skateboard shop on the second level of the mall. Aguilar, who took a cab to the mall from his College Park home and also carried crude explosives, then killed himself.
A motive for the shooting remains frustratingly out of reach despite some common denominators between himself and victim Brianna Benlolo. Both have ties to Colorado Springs, CO, both attended schools in Anne Arundel County, and they lived only 5 blocks apart in College Park.
Even so, police say they have developed no evidence that the two knew each other or that Benlolo was specifically targeted in the attack. Benlolo family members said the single mother of a 2-year-old boy didn't know the attacker.
Howard County Police have yet to release the contents of the journal belonging to Aguillar but they said in a tweet, "Shooter's handwritten journal offers no insight into whether he knew the victims."
Meanwhile, mourners are using social media to stage memorials outside the Columbia Mall Thursday evening, and outside a Colorado Springs High School. Skateboard enthusiasts are also planning a ride at Centennial Park near Columbia Saturday according to a Facebook Page dedicated to the victims.
Police are distributing a flyer around the mall because they have some reports of Aguilar hanging out at the mall frequently with a small group of friends.
