MAN SHOT IN DAYTON MALL PARKING LOT

Woman fires 10-15 shots, hitting man at least once, during argument.

An argument outside Sears in the Dayton Mall parking lot escalated to a shooting Monday afternoon, police said.

The combatants — a man and a woman with out-of-state license plates — were not identified, though the man was taken to a local hospital after at least one of the 10-15 shots fired by the woman hit his leg.

The woman appeared to have visible injuries as well, said Miami Twp. Sgt. Paul Nienhaus. Both could be criminally charged.

“We’re not quite sure what all is involved at this point,” Nienhaus said. “I have no idea what the fight was about . ... It was an argument that turned physical. Emotions were running high.”

Nienhaus said there is nothing to indicate the man sexually assaulted the woman, though a caller in to 911 before the shooting said “it looks like he’s trying to rape her.”

“I’m at the Dayton Mall outside and there is a man beating a woman,” said the caller. “He was hitting her — Oh! She just shot him. Oh my gosh, she’s shooting at him.”

Jay Day, who identified himself as the owner of Dayton Drones and Dayton Studios at the Dayton Mall, said he heard five gunshots and saw “a gentleman holding his leg.”

Day said the windshield of his vehicle was blown out in the exchange of gunfire, but he stayed back to allow police to intervene.

“The police were here so quick and mall security were on top of it, so we tried to let them do their job,” Day said.

Nienhaus, the police said the couple appears to have stopped by Sears to gather “supplies,” but never made it in the store. He also said one of four dogs in the recreational vehicle they were in ran off during the fight and gunfire. The Montgomery County Animal Resource Center

has the other three.

Nienhaus said police are trying to determine whether the man and woman live in the recreational vehicle, which police will tow as part of the evidence in the shooting.

The couple apparently has ties across the country. They were originally from New York, Nienhaus said, before noting connections in South Carolina, Florida and Michigan.

“They seem to do a lot of traveling,” he said.

In December, the owners of the Dayton Mall, Washington Prime Group, said safety is their top priority.

“We work closely with the local police departments and our own security teams to provide shoppers with a safe, pleasant shopping experience year round,” a spokeswoman said in a statement.