- The Arlington Parks Mall in Arlington, Texas, was placed on lockdown after an alleged argument ended in gunfire
- Two victims were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and police say the shooter is still at large
Two people were shot and a Texas mall was put on lockdown after a gun was pulled during a heated argument, cops say.
Police rushed to the Arlington Parks Mall in Arlington, Texas, around 7:30 p.m. Thursday evening after two groups clashed in a hallway near the rink.
The two people who were shot were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Their status is currently unclear and it is unknown whether they were part of the altercation or bystanders.
According to CBS News, an eyewitness said he saw three people attacking a man in the middle of the mall before one of the attackers pulled out a gun and fired a shot into the air.
Police say the shooter is still at large and being sought, although officials have not yet released a description and believe it is an isolated incident with no further threat to the public.
Customers were evacuated from Arlington Parks Mall Thursday evening as a large police presence responded to a shooting that left two people in the hospital
After officers evacuated the area and sealed off the building, footage emerged showing the normally bustling mall eerily quiet as frightened customers fled.
Authorities said the mall had already increased security during the holiday season, including inconsistent officers, and praised the quick response to close the mall.
Witness Camile Labista, 13, said her day at the mall with her friends descended into chaos after the sound of a gunshot rang through the mall.
She told Fox4 that she hid in a storage container until she could call her parents.
“We were standing in line at Starbucks and all of a sudden we heard this loud bang,” she said. “We thought it was like a hockey stick breaking because they were playing hockey inside.”
“But we just saw everyone running. And so we ran and grabbed my two closest friends. And so we just met Miss A. They hid us in a storage room with the lights off and the phones on silent.
“And we just prayed, waited for our family, called them and made sure everything was OK.”
Officials do not believe the shooting is a mass shooting or an attempt to cause a mass casualty situation, and the mall will reopen as normal on Friday.
Coronavirus lockdownsTexas