An Arizona man has been arrested after attempting to use his son as a human shield while being caught shoplifting, according to Fox News.
Security staff apprehended Lorenzo Perez after he tried to shoplift merchandise from a JC Penney's store in Arrowhead Mall Wednesday afternoon, ABC News reported.
After attempting to steal $67 worth of merchandise, which he had stuffed into the front of his pants, Perez pulled out a gun and assaulted an officer by punching them in the face, according to the New York Daily News.
Perez also picked up his 4-year-old son and used him as a human shield when an officer pointed a weapon at him. He also threw the gun over the second-floor railing of the mall.
At one point, Perez held his child over the mall railing, which has an estimated drop of 21 feet, according to Press Today. The discarded gun, a .40-caliber Glock, reportedly landed by families waiting to see Santa Claus, where a worker secured it by removing the bullets.
Tina Qwiatowski was one of the witnesses at the scene, as she was visiting the mall with her five young children.
"If I go to the mall, it's going to be by myself. I'll have to do it alone because I don't want to put my kids through that again," she told Fox News after the event, adding that she "thought it was a terrorist, that's the first thing that went through my head... It was scary, my heart was just pounding."
Perez is now in police custody and is facing several felony charges including aggravated assault, robbery and endangerment.
