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Hearing Held To Determine If Alleged Monroeville Mall Shooter Will Be Tried As Adult

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - A man charged with shooting three people at the Monroeville Mall was back in court Friday.

Tarod Thornhill, of Penn Hills, is accused of shooting three people inside of Macy's last February.

Today's hearing is being held to determine if Thornhill will stand trial as a juvenile or as an adult.

Dr. Alice Applegate, who evaluated Tarod Thornhill testified that he's amenable to treatment in the juvenile justice system and that he was having paranoid delusions at the time he opened fire in Monroeville Mall last year. She says he perceived the target of the shooting, Davon Jones, was coming after him with a gun, when in fact, he was unarmed.

She also testified that he suffers from a number of mental health issues, including chronic adjustment disorder, and bipolar disorder. He has a history of child abuse and child neglect, according to Dr. Applegate.

Jones was critically injured, along with two innocent bystanders.

However, prosecutors played a piece of a phone conversation that implies Thornhill may have exaggerated or faked his mental illness.

Woman: "Tarod, listen to me and listen to me well. When that doctor comes to see you sometime this week, you act nuttier than a fruitcake. You understand?"

Tarod Thornhill: "All right."

Prosecutors say that conversation took place while Thornhill was at the Allegheny County Jail.

Thomas Singleton, who was in the hospital two weeks and needed a month of rehab to learn to walk again, also Friday, saying testified his family's lives will never be the same.

"It's something you live with every day," he testified. "You hear a loud noise and you think it's a gunshot."

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