A visitation will be held Sunday at a Teaneck funeral home for the 20-year-old township man who killed himself after firing shots inside the Garden State Plaza mall, frightening hundreds of shoppers and prompting a major police response earlier this week.
The visitation for Richard Shoop is scheduled from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Volk Leber Funeral Home, located at 789 Teaneck Road, according to the funeral home website. A service will be held 11 a.m. Monday at St. Anastasia Roman Catholic Church at 1095 Teaneck Road.
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Shoop went to the massive Paramus shopping center shortly before closing time Monday and fired at least six shots using a rifle he stole from his brother, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli has said. An FBI SWAT team found Shoop dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a closed area of the mall after a six-hour long search and lockdown.
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Investigators have said they believe Shoop only meant to kill himself and no one else was hurt. According to witnesses and authorities, Shoop did not aim for patrons and told terrified mall customers he wouldn’t hurt them.
Friends and family have struggled to understand why the Teaneck High School graduate, described as well-liked and kind, would end his own life. In the days leading up to his death, some friends and co-workers said Shoop seemed withdrawn, and increasingly worried about being arrested and watched by police.
Employees at Victor’s Pizza, where Shoop worked, described him as hard working and reliable with many friends. Details of the mall shooting shocked others who met Shoop on Cedar Lane, remembering him as pleasant and polite.
Shoop, who authorities have described as a drug user, left a note at his family home, writing that “an end” was near, according to Molinelli. The prosecutor has said the message could be read with different meanings, and was not clearly a suicide note.
More than 100 people gathered Tuesday at Chestnut Plaza for a memorial, where friends said Shoop was fun-loving and often smiling.
Online tributes to Shoop can be posted at the funeral home website: volkleberfuneralhome.com
Related news:
Garden State Plaza Gunman Remembered As Kind, Withdrawn
Prosecutor: Weapon Used In Garden State Plaza Gunfire Was Confiscated, Returned
Garden State Plaza Gunman Committed Suicide In Mall
#RIPRichShoop: Outpouring of Support in Teaneck
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