Parents of Boy Attacked at Mall of America Bare Anguish over Extent of Injuries, Uncertainty of Recovery

The 5-year-old Woodbury boy who survived being thrown from a third-floor balcony at the Mall of America remains in intensive care due to severe complications from the attack, his parents said in an update this week on their GoFundMe page.

“Up until now we have let our hopes govern what we have revealed to the public,” the Tuesday post stated. “However, the injuries and severe complications have now resulted in more than 15 separate medical procedures or surgeries, including surgeries for two broken arms and a broken leg, removal of his spleen, procedures for fluid in his lungs and stomach, as well as for facial and skull fractures; and just this past weekend, he had a stent placed in a vein that runs through his liver because of the serious complications he continues to endure.”

The boy, publicly identified only as Landen, has been in intensive care since he was thrown nearly 40 feet to the ground by 24-year-old Emmanuel Aranda on April 12.

{snip} “We are still unsure when our family will be able to return home.”

Aranda {snip} told investigators he went to the Bloomington mall “looking for someone to kill” after women he approached there had rejected his advances. He said he had planned to kill an adult before choosing the child instead.

{snip}