Suspects In Florida Department Store Hostage-Taking At Large

November 18, 2009 6:46 a.m. EST

Venice, FL (AHN) - Police are looking for gunmen who took more than a dozen people hostage in a department store in southwest Florida late Tuesday night.

According to NBC, two gunmen took 15 people hostage at a T.J. Maxx in Venice. Nine people were able to escape to safety but the remaining hostages were freed only after a SWAT team was called in to end the standoff.

There were no reports of injuries except for a woman who was pushed to the ground by the suspects. She was pulled out of the mall by a SWAT member.

The Herald Tribune reports that authorities were still searching the mall for the suspects at 2:00 am on Wednesday.