TACOMA, Wash. - The man accused of a shooting spree at a crowded shopping mall told authorities to "just follow the screams" when he called just before opening fire with assault rifles.

Dominick Sergio Maldonado pleaded not guilty in court Monday to 14 counts related to the attack that began around noon Sunday.

A judge in Tacoma set bail for Dominick Sergio Maldonado at $2 million.

A tall, lanky Maldonado stood passively and fully shackled in front of the judge as Pierce County Deputy Prosecutor Phil Sorensen read the charges against him.

The 20-year-old was charged with eight counts of first degree assault -- including two counts for people who were not actually hit by fire -- plus four counts of first-degree kidnapping and two counts of unauthorized possession of a firearm.One of the assault charges were for injuries sustained by the only victim who is still in the hospital.

That victim, Sorensen said, was shot through the abdomen, with a bullet lodged in the spinal cord area, “likely suffering paralysis from here out and other life threatening injuries. He is still living but subject to infection and other sorts of things that may take his life.”

In charging documents released just before his initial court appearance, prosecutors said Maldonado denied intending to actually shoot anyone, but was trying to draw media attention.

Police said they got a call just before the melee broke out, with the caller saying he was armed with two assault rifles and about to start shooting. When the dispatcher asked the man where he was, he replied "Just follow the screams," the charging papers said.

The court documents said police searched his car and his bedroom, finding a formula for making the poison gas ricin, as well as bomb-making diagrams and materials, and body shooting targets.

Maldonado sent a text message to his ex-girlfriend minutes before the rampage saying he was about to show the world his anger, the woman said.

Maldonado surrendered Sunday about four hours after he took three hostages at a music store, all of whom were released unharmed, authorities said. He was being held in the Pierce County Jail on six counts of assault and three of kidnapping with bail set at $450,000.

KING

Dominick Sergio Maldonado

Tiffany Robison, Maldonado's former girlfriend, said he sent her a text message shortly before noon reading: "Today is the day that the world will know my anger."

"I knew something was going to happen, he was going to do something really crazy like this, but I had no idea it was going to be like this," she told KING 5 News.

She said he also contacted her during the standoff.

"He called me and said he just shot up the Tacoma Mall and he's in the Sam Goody taking hostages," Robison said. "I think honestly that he just wanted attention. It's the sick attention that he wanted."   

Robison said Maldonado had a rough childhood and that she believed some of his behavior could be influenced by drugs. She broke up with Maldonaldo 6 months ago because she feared for her safety.

"He said he was screaming for help for years that nobody helped him, nobody heard him," she said.

In a press release Sunday, Gov. Christine Gregoire said a rapid, well-coordinated response by police, firefighters, Pierce County sheriff's deputies and State Patrol troopers "prevented a potentially much worse outcome."

Colin Agostini

Witness Colin Agostini took this camera phone image of police in the mall.

The first report came in a telephone call about 12:15 p.m. when someone said a gunman "was in the mall, walking along, firing," police officer Mark W. Fulghum said.

State Patrol and other law enforcement officers quickly assembled around an entrance at the south end mall.

Betz Dejarnatt, who works at the J.C. Penney store, said workers were herded into dressing rooms and offices before police took them out to a parking lot.

Fulghum said detectives were interviewing the victims and the hostages, two men and a woman, to determine what happened during the nearly standoff.

Stacy Wilson, 29, of Bonney Lake, said she was shopping when she heard a popping noise and turned around.

"I saw the gunman randomly shooting. I ran with a group of women to Victoria's Secret," Wilson said. She said they crouched behind a wall in the store, and when the shooting stopped an employee ran out and closed a security gate at the front.

Wilson said she heard 15 to 20 shots.

"He was walking backward and shooting. I couldn't see his face," she said. "Everyone was running and screaming."   

One man told KING 5 News the gunman was smiling as he fired an assault rifle in bursts of four to five shots.

A woman who said she made eye contact with the "very clean-cut" gunman before he opened fire told NorthWest Cable News, "When I heard the shooting I thought, 'This is a joke. ... I couldn't believe this was actually happening, that someone would do this."

Court records show Maldonado has an extensive juvenile criminal history dating back to 1998, including convictions for burglary, theft and possession of burglary tools and a court order not to possess any weapons.

Records also show that after Maldonado was convicted of burglary and theft, he was ordered to undergo random drug testing and treatment.

Maldonado worked at a local Subway sandwich outlet until about four months ago, co-workers said. Ryan Gilman, who said Maldonado had trained him on the night shift, described him as quiet but "twitchy."

Another co-worker, Edward Zeke, said he was a gun enthusiast and "unstable, with a drug problem."   

Robison said the couple broke up months earlier "because of an issue with a drug."