1 dead and 4 injured in shootings at a Valentine’s Day mall in Phoenix and North Charleston, SC

Two shopping mall shootings, one in Phoenix and another in North Charleston, South Carolina, left at least one person dead and four others injured on Valentine’s Day, authorities said.

In Phoenix, police responded to reports of a shooting around 12:40 p.m. at a retail kiosk inside the Desert Sky Mall, police spokesperson Sgt. Andy Williams, and found two men with gunshot wounds.

A preliminary investigation indicated that an argument had arisen between a customer and a kiosk employee before the shooting, Williams said. The two men armed and exchanged gunshots, he said.

Both men were taken to hospital with fatal injuries, Williams said, and a young man, possibly a minor, later died. Police were unsure of his role in the shooting yet.

The suspects fled the scene before police arrived, he said.

Jairo Dinar told the Arizona Republic of the USA TODAY Network that he was shopping with his parents around the time of the shooting.

“We hear a few gunshots… I hear glass breaking and everyone is running pushing each other into a scene, but I’m not really sure what was going on.” My first fear was just to get out of there you know how to help as many people as possible, ”Dinar said.

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Geno Montana said he heard an argument in an area where jewelry was sold before the shooting.

“It was an altercation. I was really trying to buy some presents and focus on it so I could get out of here. And once I heard that first shot I knew what time. it was, ”Montana said. “I was like, ‘I have to get out of here.'”

An investigation into the shooting is ongoing.

Authorities in South Carolina are looking for a gunman accused of injuring three people inside the Northwoods Mall.

The North Charleston Police Department responded just before 1:30 p.m. to reports of a shooting in a common area, Lt. Matt Hughes said. After evacuating the mall, they found three victims with gunshot wounds.

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Two of the victims had minor, non-life threatening injuries, while a third was in serious condition, Hughes said.

Investigators said they were working to identify and locate a person of interest captured in the mall’s security video.

Contributor: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix, North Charleston Mall shootings disrupt Valentine’s Day