Andrea Farrington
Family, friends and the community gathered at the Children’s Museum in the Coral Ridge Mall in Coralville Sunday to remember the woman who was shot and killed there Friday. Mourners wrote messages on turquoise hearts, as it was the favorite color of Andrea Farrington.
Farrington worked in the Children’s Museum and executive director Deb Dunkhase talked about Andrea’s positive and creative approach, commenting on how she would come in with purple hair one day and pink the next.
Former co-worker Miriam Mead went into the museum with family members to view an exhibit space dedicated to Farrington. She talked about Farrington with KCRG TV. “She was just alive,” Mead says. Mead says it was touching and good to be with the family during that time.
Following speeches about Farrington, the large crowd lit candles and stood for a moment of silence. Farrington was shot three times in the back near the food court by 22-year-old mall security guard Alexander Kozak on Friday around 7:30 in the evening.
The Iowa State Patrol stopped Kozak as he traveled along Interstate 80 and arrested him. The DCI says Kozak admitted in an interview he had left the mall, retrieved a gun from his residence in North Liberty. He said he returned to the mall, intentionally shot Farrington in the back three times, then fled.
Kozak faces one count of first-degree murder. His bail was set at 10 million dollars cash. Investigators have not revealed a motive for the shooting.
Photo provided by the Iowa Department of Public Safety.