Across the street from a mall where law enforcement hung out, reportedly. But still, it’d take 60 sec to get from the inside of the mall to their vehicles, unless done happened to be in their cars already.
Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Did LEO have advance notice perhaps? Did the paper get a call from the shooter telling them he was on his way? This is all just guesstimating on my part.
BUT...the shooter has a long and discordant past with the paper. He was not quiet about his animosity. From what I've seen, he seems to have a touch of the "my head is bigger than yours" attitude. So, in my mind at least, it would be believable if the shooter gave the paper a heads up.