Richard Shoop, 20, shot at least six rounds from a modified rifle seemingly at random and without hitting anyone, before turning the gun on himself in a back area of the mall, Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli told a news conference early on Tuesday.

Authorities said Shoop had a history of drug abuse and drug dealing, “which may very well have been the reason why he ultimately chose to do what he did last night,” Molinelli said on ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America” program.

Officials found Shoop’s body in the Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus at about 3:20 a.m. EST (0820 GMT).

Molinelli said it appeared Shoop went into the mall with the intention of committing suicide, not to hurt others.

“He left a note,” Molinelli said. “It’s a bit ambiguous. I’m hesitant to say it’s a suicide note. It does express that an end is coming. It could have been prison. It could have been what he did last night.”

A spokesman for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie indicated the state would appeal, but did not say whether it would seek a stay to stop the ruling from taking effect.

Judge Mary Jacobson in Mercer County Superior Court in Trenton issued the order, making New Jersey the first state to lift a ban on gay marriage as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in June to strike down the federal law defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

“Same-sex couples must be allowed to marry in order to obtain equal protection of the law under the New Jersey constitution,” she wrote,  Reuters informs.