Armando Hernandez Jr Westgate mall shooting suspect confessed to Glendale, Arizona gun attack saying he felt bullied and wanted respect. Prosecutor identified him as a misogynist and incel.
The Westgate shopping mall shooter who went on a shooting spree at a Glendale, Arizona shopping mall, Wednesday night aimed to ‘harm’ 10 people because he ‘felt disrespected,’ and ‘bullied’ police said Thursday.
Armando Hernandez Jr, a 20 year old construction worker from Peoria reportedly made the admissions after surrendering to police.
‘Hernandez admitted that he was the shooter in this case,’ Glendale Police Sgt. Randy Stewart said during a Thursday afternoon press briefing.
‘He said that he went to Westgate to target victims,’ Stewart reiterated. ‘He wanted to gain some respect. He felt that he had been bullied in his life.’
Hernandez’s admission follows him going so far as to post a video on Snapchat before walking into the Westgate Entertainment District mall and opening fire with an AR15 assault rifle.
Multiple people are injured, and a suspect is in custody after a shooting at a mall in Glendale, Arizona that had recently reopened. @Miguelnbc reports. pic.twitter.com/qvdibnqfcg
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) May 21, 2020
‘I’m gonna be the shooter of Westgate 2020, Let’s get this done.’
Cops say Hernandez initially scoped out the mall around 7:30 p.m. before returning to his car for what Stewart described as a ‘black assault rifle,’ and three loaded magazines.
‘Hello, my name is Armando Junior Hernandez and I’m gonna be the shooter of Westgate 2020,’ the shooter says on the Snapchat video. ‘Let’s get this done.’
Cops said Hernandez wounded three people, including a 19-year-old man who remains listed in critical condition at a local hospital.
The two other victims are a 16-year-old girl who was rushed to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and a 30-year-old woman who was treated at the scene.
Incel seeking retribution against women for being rejected.
‘I don’t know exactly why he stopped firing,’ Stewart said. ‘He did mention to the investigators that he gave up when he saw the officers responding.’
Hernandez, who made his first court appearance on Thursday, is facing 16 charges, including multiple counts of aggravated assault, firearm charges and an additional count for damaging a public utility — police said one of his shots struck a transformer and caused a local power outage.
Of note, Edward Leiter, a prosecuting attorney, alleged Hernandez identified as an incel – referring to an online movement of people who say they are ‘involuntarily celibate’ and promote violence against women. Hernandez’s lawyer, Philip Beatty of the Maricopa County Public Defender, objected.
The incel movement parallels the increasing phenomenon of many young men in the US who feel emasculated and seemingly living a life without purpose and all too often overlooked by most women who seek partners of equal or higher social or financial standing.
Hernandez remained in custody upon being ordered held on $1 million bail.
