Mall Of America Settles Lawsuit After Kid Thrown Over Balcony

BLOOMINGTON, MN — The Mall of America has reached a settlement with the family of a young boy who nearly died after a stranger threw him off of the mall's third-floor balcony in 2019.

The lawsuit said the mall's security failed to protect the 5-year-old Woodbury boy from his 26-year-old attacker, who had been banned from the mall twice prior.

A day before the attack, mall security spoke with the attacker after suspicious behavior but did not look up his identity and let him go, according to the lawsuit.

"Mall of America and the family of the young boy who was thrown from a third-floor balcony by a criminal at the Mall in April 2019, are pleased to have reached a confidential settlement of the lawsuit," read a statement Monday from law firm Briol and Benson, which represents the boy's family.

"The boy’s recovery has been nothing short of miraculous and the focus remains on his health and wellbeing, which includes privacy during this time. Mall of America and the family have agreed to work together with a focus on safety, and already are jointly pursuing policy changes to existing trespass limits for violent criminals so as to give greater ability to preclude such persons from their premises. The Mall and the family will ask that any resulting change be named in honor of the young boy."

Landen, who was five at the time of the attack, fell nearly 40 feet and landed head-first on the mall's tile floor. He immediately stopped breathing, and suffered massive head trauma, severe bleeding, numerous fractures, and lacerations, according to the lawsuit.

Two bystanders at the scene happened to have medical training and were able to restore Landen's breathing. First responders transported him to Children's Minnesota, where he stayed for more than 100 days and underwent dozens of surgeries and other various medical interventions.

He was later moved to Gillette Children's for long-term, inpatient rehab.

The lawsuit argued that "If Mall Security on April 11, 2019, had simply asked Aranda his name and checked its records for past incidents involving him, the Mall would have been alerted to Aranda's history of violent, aggressive, and erratic behavior toward guests in the Mall, including criminal damage to property and assault, that twice before had prompted the Mall to ban Aranda from the premises." Read the entire lawsuit here.

The man convicted in the attack — Emmanuel D. Aranda — is currently serving a 228-month prison sentence after he was found guilty of attempted premeditated first-degree murder.

Aranda is set to be released at the end of 2031.

Background on the case

On April 19, 2019, the boy and his mother were outside the Rain Forest Café on the mall's third floor. The mother saw Aranda, whom she had never seen before, come close to them and she asked if they should move.

Instead, Aranda picked up the boy and threw him over the railing, police said. He then ran but another witness tried to stop him.

Aranda pushed the witness against a wall and kept running until police were able to arrest him on the light-rail train outside the mall.

The boy suffered serious injuries but survived and eventually regained the ability to walk.

Also read: Accused Mall Attacker Blames Women Who Rejected Him: Police