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Southpoint Mall shooting: Kid, 10, among three shot in Black Friday shop attack that leaves three others hurt from chaos
A 10-YEAR-old child was among three people who were shot in a Black Friday shopping assault at a North Carolina mall that left another three hurt in the ensuing chaos.
Police responded to reports of shots fired inside The Streets at Southpoint mall in Durham just after 3pm on Friday, Durham Police Cheif Patrice Andrews said.
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Inside, officers found three people had been shot in an incident on the second floor of the mall between two groups of people who know each other, Andrews said.
While the cause of the shooting is unknown, police say it wasn't random.
Among those hurt was a 10-year-old boy who was struck by a ricochet bullet. The child was transported to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Three people were also injured during a subsequent evacuation of the mall as panic-stricken shoppers scrambled towards the exits to safety. They were all treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Most of those involved with the shooting fled after the incident but one person was detained, one weapon was recovered, and police are interviewing witnesses, Andrews added.
"Shootings in this city have got to stop," the police chief told reporters. "It's got to stop."
Councilman Mark-Anthony Middleton said he was left "deeply, deeply concerned" after the shooting.
"This is Black Friday. This is a huge shopping day," he wrote. "We know a lot of people are out after the holiday trying to do shopping."
He added that first responders are on the scene and are "treating any victims that there may be and apprehending anyone that needs to be apprehended."
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Someone who claims that they drove past the scene said they saw "tons of cops and at least one ambulance converging on it."
A local reporter who was at the mall posted a photograph of several people gathering inside of a store.
"I’m currently locked in a store with other shoppers due to a lockdown situation in Streets at Southpoint Mall in #Durham," he .
"We’re waiting to hear from security what prompted this situation. While shopping, I saw many people running."
Cops reportedly locked down the mall following the reports and closed it for the rest of Black Friday. It will remain closed until further notice.
Another reporter said: "We are leaving the store being escorted by officers in a single file line."
Others claimed that they heard gunshots inside of the mall, however, cops have not yet confirmed this.
A video from the scene showed shoppers fleeing outside of a Nordstrom. The person who posted the footage said: "We were about to go into Southpoint Mall when people started running out."
Another video showed someone being wheeled out of the mall on a stretcher.
"I saw lots a blood and people being brought out in stretchers," the caption of the horrifying footage read.
Shoppers rushed to malls across the country today as Black Friday sales commenced.
One shopper told a : "As I was exiting JCPenney, I just heard six shots and it was like a good one to two second interval and everyone just started running out the door, the pretzel workers they were getting down and running out the front exit."
In a statement, Brookfield Properties, which owns The Streets at Southpoint, commended police for their swift response and said sent their condolences to all those affected.
"Streets at Southpoint is a destination for the community to gather," the company said.
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"We are saddened and outraged that we were the location for such a senseless act of violence among a group of individuals."
There is currently no information regarding suspects. An investigation is currently ongoing.
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