CMPD: One dead in shooting at Northlake Mall
One person was killed Thursday afternoon in an officer-involved shooting at Northlake Mall in north Charlotte, authorities said.
It was not immediately clear who fired the fatal shot.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said early information indicates an argument started inside the mall around 2 p.m. Thursday between two groups of people. Officers who were working off-duty at the mall arrived on the scene.
At least one person was shot during the altercation, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene by Medic.
No officers were hurt, according to CMPD.
Northlake is located on the northwest corner of Interstate 77 and W.T. Harris Boulevard.
Witnesses said the shooting occurred in Journeys, a shoe store on the lower level of the mall near Dick’s Sporting Goods.
Co-workers Natasha Columbus and Nicole Kirkpatrick were in the Locker Room sporting goods store on the lower level of the mall when the shots rang out. “Pow, pow, pow, pow,” eight or nine in all, Kirkpatrick said.
Columbus said she bolted to the back of the store. Kirkpatrick went to the front, toward the sound of gunfire, and looked through a store window.
Fifteen to 20 feet away in the mall commons, she says, she saw a body lying prone on the polished floor.
After the gunshots, an automatic gate came down and blocked the Locker Room patrons from leaving the store for 30 minutes or more.
At the AMC Northlake movie theater, about 100 people who had just finished watching a 12:45 p.m. screening of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” were surprised when an employee came in and announced there had been a shooting and that the mall was on lockdown.
Out in the mall, hundreds of shoppers pushed and shoved to leave the area.
Zindy Cruz, 19, was in the food court eating Taco Bell with her brother and father when they heard the shots being fired. She and her family ducked under their table until things calmed down. Then they got up and walked towards where they were told the shots were fired.
From the second floor, they could see into Journeys where she said she saw a man lying on the floor. She said she was pretty sure he was dead.
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