A 5-year-old boy was thrown from a third-floor balcony at the Mall of America and suffered numerous broken bones, head trauma and severe bleeding. The young boy’s name is Landen Hoffman.
Kari Hoffmann, the child’s mother, said a stranger approached her family and Landen while they were looking at an alligator at Rainforest Café. The stranger snatched Landen and ran away, and Hoffmann screamed, “No!” after he was already thrown.
The boy suffered severe head trauma and various broken bones in his arms and legs. Hoffmann asked the crowd to pray, and Landen opened his eyes for a second before being taken to the hospital.
Emmanuel Aranda, 24, was the man who snatched up the child and threw him. He spoke with authorities about the incident to share his motive behind his threatening, criminal actions.
The suspect told investigators he went to the mall to kill someone, but instead threw the 5-year-old boy over the third-floor railing.
Aranda had been banned from the mall on two prior instances. After the incident, he pleaded guilty to first-degree attempted murder. Aranda was sentenced to 19 years in prison the attempted murder that he committed. The Hoffman family also filed a lawsuit against the Mall of America.
Landen Hoffmann was immediately rushed into emergency brain trauma surgery, and was told by a doctor that he was “going to be okay”. He made it just in time to attend the first day of kindergarten that year.
Landen Hoffman was able to return to school after a grueling months-long recovery, and is now an active 8-year-old who loves his cat and plays hockey.
The family’s attorneys announced a confidential settlement with Mall of America on Dec. 5, saying they are working together on policy changes to ensure a similar incident doesn’t happen again.