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.

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.