Police: Man shot at Durham mall remains in critical condition

DURHAM, N.C. — (AP) -- Police in North Carolina say that a man remains in critical condition following Friday’s shooting at a shopping mall that was packed with shoppers on the day after Thanksgiving.

Durham police said Saturday that the investigation into the incident at The Streets at Southpoint is ongoing.

The shooting also wounded a 10-year-old child and another man. Both sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Police said that no charges had been filed as of Saturday morning.

The mall resumed regular operation at 11 a.m. on Saturday, according to reports from the Raleigh News & Observer.

Police said the three people were shot during an apparent fight between two groups at the mall crowded with shoppers on the day after Thanksgiving.

Authorities said in the late afternoon on Friday that one person was detained and there was no further threat to the public.

A bystander described “mass hysteria” on one of the busiest shopping days of the year as shoppers ducked into stores for cover or ran for the exits.

Durham Police Chief Patrice Andrews told reporters the shooting happened around 3:20 p.m. inside The Streets at Southpoint mall during a fight between two groups who knew each other.

She said one of the victims was a 10-year-old child hit when a bullet ricocheted. She said the wounds did not appear life-threatening. Police said a second victim remains in critical condition and a third suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Another three people were injured as shoppers rushed for exits following the shooting. In a news release, police said their injuries were not life-threatening.

Andrews said those involved in the fight that led to the shooting fled, but she vowed more arrests.

“This is not a situation where someone came into the mall and indiscriminately began firing,” she said.

Shoppers described a chaotic scene after the shots echoed through the mall, with some people taking cover in stores and others rushing for the exits.

Angela Lloyd had gone to Southpoint with family members to start her Christmas shopping. She said she was walking out of a store when the chaos erupted.

“I just hear shots firing, and as soon as that happened, everybody just kind of turned around and started running and screaming,” she said in a phone interview. “Some people were running into stores, some people were almost crawling into stores. Just like mass hysteria.”

She took cover in a store herself, and she and others were directed to the dressing rooms in the back. One customer played a police scanner on his cellphone and kept people updated on what he heard, she said.

Her husband, Craig Lloyd, had just left the mall and was heading home to the town of Efland about 20 miles away when his wife called him from the dressing room.

“She said ‘There’s gunshots. They’ve got us locked in the store,’” Craig Lloyd said in a phone interview. “I turned around and went back to the mall.”

When he got back to the shopping center, Craig Lloyd said he observed a chaotic scene with some exiting the mall with their hands up and others like him trying to find loved ones. His wife was allowed to leave the mall more than an hour later.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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