The incident occurred when a man leaving the vestibule area of the Burlington Coat Factory store was approached by several individuals and then assaulted, causing a gun to explode during a struggle. The suspects fled the scene in a black Nissan Altima, which was tracked down to Interstate 97 in the Glen Burnie area and later crashed in Baltimore County. The three individuals involved in the incident were eventually apprehended by police. No motive for the incident has been identified, and it is unclear if they knew each other.