The Mall of America had been open only 17 minutes Friday morning when the screaming started.
On the first floor, laying face up between an escalator and the Michael Kors store, was a 5-year-old boy. He had been thrown from three stories above — by a stranger, police say. There was blood; the boy was not moving.
The child's mother asked everyone to pray, witnesses said, and security guards, patrons and police began performing CPR. The boy was rushed to a local hospital with "significant injuries" from the 40-foot fall, authorities said, and was still being treated 24 hours later.