Police chief: 3 shot in fight at mall

DURHAM, N.C. >> Three people were shot and wounded Friday during an apparent fight between two groups at a North Carolina mall crowded with shoppers on the day after Thanksgiving, the police chief said.

Authorities said in the late afternoon 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. Police said the child’s wound did not appear life-threatening. Police did not immediately release further information on the conditions of the other two who were shot.

Andrews said 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.

She said those involved in the fight that led to the shooting fled, but she vowed more arrests. She said there was no further threat to the public.

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

WRAL-TV showed traffic snarled around the mall for more than an hour after the shooting, with lines of cars trying to exit the parking lot, and numerous police cars with lights flashing outside a department store.