At least one person was shot at The Streets in Southpoint, according to city council member Mark-Anthony Middleton, who spoke to police chief Patrice Andrews, who was on his way to the scene.
He said: “I can confirm that at least one person was shot at Southpoint Mall. “We know a lot of people participated in Black Friday. We don’t have information about the victim’s condition or the arrest of a shooter.”
“There are no more threats at the mall,” they said.
Before fleeing the scene, two witnesses at the mall told CNN they heard multiple gunshots. Darian Harrington told CNN he was cleaning his shoes near Victoria’s Secret at the mall.
“Suddenly, I saw people running, and I didn’t think about it, so I froze,” he said.
He later said he heard multiple gunshots nearby.
“I immediately went to the first exit I could find,” he said. “I just started seeing people rushing from all directions.”
Hadley Connell told CNN she also heard multiple shots being fired as she and her fiancé sat in the food court on the second floor.
“The gunfire was followed by what sounded like a shower on a tin roof as people started screaming, running and shoving each other,” Connell said.
“We ran towards the bathroom of the mall near the food court as people were rushing, and a few security guards started to realize what was going on,” she said. “Security guided us down the staff corridor and stairs as they tried to help the elderly and those with children out of the building. Then we ran to the other side of the complex parking lot. shopping mall, and we were stuck in our parking lot as people tried to evacuate.”
Aerial video from WRAL shows a near-complete parking lot filled with vehicles by shoppers at the Black Friday mall.
According to Middleton, authorities are asking people to stay away from the shopping area at this time because of the evolving situation.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
CNN’s Chris Boyette contributed to this report.
