A woman shot dead in an Iowa shopping mall was a 20-year-old employee of a children's museum inside the mall and knew the man who shot her, authorities said on Saturday.
Andrea Farrington, of Cedar Rapids, was shot multiple times in her torso, and that a handgun and three 9mm casings were found at the scene, according to Coralville police.
Witnesses have said she was shot in the back, and several people came to her aid to try to staunch her bleeding and perform CPR.
Alexander Matthew Kozak (pictured left) has been charged with first-degree murder in a shooting that occurred last Friday inside Coral Ridge Mall in Iowa. Andrea Farrington, 20, has been named as the victim
Farrington died at an Iowa City hospital.
Officials have charged Alexander Matthew Kozak, 22, of North Liberty, with first-degree murder in the shooting that occurred on Friday evening inside Coral Ridge Mall near its food court.
No one else was injured.
According to the Des Moines Register, Miss Farrington told a cousin that Kozak had been staring at her during work and leaving notes on her car for six weeks.
Kozak was arrested a short time after the shooting. He is being held on $10 million, cash-only bond.
The 22-year-old suspect is married to Kellie Kozak, according to social media.
One of Alexander Kozak's last posts on Facebook read: 'I am a born free, gun toting, constitution loving American.'
He shared a number of pictures in an album label 'My Toys', showing hunting knives, handcuffs and ninja throwing stars.
Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness said police believe Farrington was targeted, saying Kozak told an investigator that he had left the mall, retrieved a gun from his home and returned to shoot Farrington.
Authorities declined to discuss a motive, saying only that the two knew each other from working at the mall.
Officials confirmed that Kozak was a security guard at the mall. Authorities do not believe there were any other suspects.
Officials have charged Alexander Matthew Kozak, 22, of North Liberty, with first-degree murder in the shooting that occurred on Friday evening inside Coral Ridge Mall near its food court. According to social media, Kozak is married to a woman named Kellie Kozak
Kozak also shared pictures of his 'toys' on social media which were a range of military and hunting knives
Handcuffs, black gloves and ninja throwing stars were also pictured on the suspected killer's social media
Soon after the shooting, troopers spotted Kozak's car on Interstate 80 near Davenport, about 50 miles east of the mall, and arrested him without incident.
Kozak's case did not appear on Saturday in online court records for Iowa, and it was unclear who would be appointed to serve as his attorney.
Witnesses to the shooting told the Iowa City Press-Citizen that several shots rang out near the mall's carousel entrance around 7.30pm.
Ryan Ross, who said he works at a mall kiosk, told the Press-Citizen he recognized the shooter as a security officer who had been fired earlier in the day.
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ShareJeff Carew, of Tiffin, said the woman was shot in the back with a handgun.
'I heard three shots and watched the girl fall,' Carew told the Press-Citizen.
The mall's general manager, Monica Nadeau, said mall officials are cooperating with police.
She did not respond to questions about Kozak's employment with the mall or whether he had been fired before the shooting.
Miss Farrington's funeral was due to be held on Tuesday.
The young woman, who was known for her cheerful attitude, graduated from Montezuma High School in 2012.
She then attended Hawkeye Community College, Iowa Valley Community College and Kirkwood Community College, according to her obituary.
The mall is along a busy stretch of I-80 in Coralville, a normally quiet, suburban community of about 19,000 people in eastern Iowa. Coral Ridge is the second-largest mall in Iowa, and it has long been a regional shopping destination.
Police tape marks off a section of the food court at the Coral Ridge Mall in Coralville, Iowa on Friday following the deadly shooting
Miss Farrington (pictured with an unidentified man) worked at the children's museum in the mall and was shot dead by a colleague on Friday. The 20-year-old died at an Iowa City hospital
Shoppers fled the Coral Ridge Mall, a popular shopping destination in eastern Iowa following a shooting where a mall worker was reportedly shot in the back by a colleague
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