A man killed in the mall of Alabama during a shootout was "probably" not an armed man, according to the police

A man killed by a police officer after a Thanksgiving night in a mall in Alabama, was "probably" not the gunman who shot a teenager earlier in the evening, police said Friday.

The incident took place at Riverchase Galleria in Hoover, Alabama, about 15 km from Birmingham. As shoppers flocked to the mall to shop for Black Friday, an 18-year-old man was shot twice and a 12-year-old woman shot in the back.

Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr. was shot dead on Thursday, November 22, 2018.
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An on-scene officer then shot dead 21-year-old Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr. of Hueytown, who was reportedly fleeing the scene with a weapon. Police initially indicated that she thought Bradford had shot the teenager after a physical altercation, but that she had retracted on Friday night.

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"In the past 20 hours, investigators and crime scene technicians from the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office have interviewed many people and examined several crucial pieces of evidence," said Hoover Police Captain Gregg Rector, in a statement. "New evidence now suggests that although Mr. Bradford may have been involved in an aspect of the altercation, he probably did not shoot the cartridges that injured the 18-year-old victim."

Police said she "regretted that our initial press release was not completely accurate".

The rector said the investigators now believe that more than two people were involved in the initial fight before the shooting. The information also indicated that "there is at least one armed man still free, who could be responsible for shooting the 18-year-old man and the 12-year-old woman."

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Jefferson County Attorney Mike Anderton said that the State Investigation Bureau would be conducting the investigation after the discovery of an eyewitness linked to the Jefferson County sheriff elected, Mark Mettway , AL.com reported. The police asked anyone with information about the shootings to contact the investigators.

The officer who shot the gunman was put on administrative leave while the authorities were investigating the shooting. The name of the officer has not been published. Officers were not injured.

The 12-year-old girl would be in a stable state. The 18-year-old would be in serious condition on Friday night, the Hoover Sun announced.

Associated Press contributed to this report.