High School Student Arrested in Westminster Mall Shooting : Crime: The suspect, 18, and the 13-year-old girl who was wounded were acquainted but had no close relationship, police say. The motive is still being sought.

A La Quinta High School student was arrested early Thursday in connection with the shooting of a 13-year-old girl that occurred in front of terrified shoppers in the crowded Westminster Mall on Wednesday afternoon.

Phong Thanh Dang, 18, was arrested without incident when he returned to his home in the 100 block of South Cooper Street in Santa Ana at 2:15 a.m. Officers had been staking out the home for several hours, said Westminster Police Sgt. Bill Lewis.

“The victim and the suspect were acquaintances but they did not have any kind of involved relationship,” Lewis said. “They know each other from traveling in some of the same circles. She was able to give investigators his name.”

The victim, whom police declined to identify, was in critical condition Thursday at UCI Medical Center in Orange. She was shot twice in the back and underwent surgery Wednesday night.

Authorities would not say Thursday whether the attack was gang-related. Witnesses told police there was no verbal exchange or flashing of gang signs before the shooting.

“We have not eliminated that possibility but at this point we are still looking for a motive,” Lewis said. “We’ve interviewed about 40 witnesses and are now in the process of piecing it all together.”

An uncle of the girl, who declined to give his name, was among those keeping vigil Thursday at the hospital. He said the family is fearful of retaliation and is reluctant to speak about the incident.

“I don’t know about all this stuff with the gangs,” he said. “She’s a straight-A student. Her school record speaks for itself. She’s been a student of the month and got all kinds of awards.”

He said the girl comes from a large Westminster family with seven siblings, all of whom are reeling from the attack.

The family “is in shock,” he said. “Kids 13 and 12, everyone has guns. It’s crazy. It really shocked me that this was in a mall. It seems like nobody is safe anymore.”

Police said that as she was being treated for her wounds at the mall, the girl identified Dang as the gunman responsible for firing more than five rounds from the upper level of the mall into a knot of youths who were standing below.

The 4 p.m. shooting sent shoppers inside the bustling mall running into nearby stores.

“We do not know if she was the intended victim,” Lewis said. “He fired into a group of young ladies and she happened to be the only one struck. Certainly other people could have been struck by the bullets.”

Dang was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and is being held on $250,000 bail at Orange County Jail. He is expected to be arraigned today at Municipal Court in Westminster.

Dang, who came to the United States from Vietnam 13 years ago, is a junior at La Quinta High School in Westminster. He was scheduled to begin his senior year in September, school records show.

School Principal Mitch Thomas said Thursday that Dang was a leader among “a group we felt were gang-related kids.”

“He was definitely with the wrong group of kids,” Thomas said. “He was capable but didn’t apply himself academically. He had very caring parents.”

A man who lives with the suspect’s family said Thursday that the teen-ager’s arrest came as a shock to his parents, who he said run a beauty shop in Long Beach.

Dang’s “mother came home and said, ‘Did you hear about the shooting at the mall today?’ ” he said. “She didn’t know it was her son they picked up until the police showed up here later.”

The man, who would not give his name, said he has rented a room in the family home since the beginning of this month. He said the teen-ager had told his parents Wednesday that he was going fishing with some friends, and when he returned to the house, where officers waited, he was carrying some fish.

Neighbors on the street said that Dang’s parents are at work most of the day and that a group of youths often gather there in the parents’ absence.

Lewis said police are not looking for any other suspects in the case.

Times staff writer Thuan Le contributed to this report.