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A Thanksgiving night that fired at Alabama's largest closed shopping mall killed one person and two people – including a 12-year-old girl – were wounded, authorities said, sending terrified buyers to the hospital. search for security.
HOOVER, Al. – A 21-year-old gunman killed by an officer in a mall in Alabama on Thanksgiving night "probably did not fire," police said Friday.
The shooting at the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover, about 10 km south of Birmingham, took place on Thursday, one of the busiest days of shopping.
Authorities mistakenly thought that Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr. had fired the cartridges that left an 18-year-old hospitalized, said Hoover Police spokesman, Captain Gregg Rector, in a statement.
The police first announced that Bradford had opened fire after an altercation with the 18 year old man and that an officer had shot him while he was fleeing the scene. Friday night, however, the police changed the case, saying that even though Bradford was involved in "one aspect of the altercation" and was armed with a handgun, he probably did not shoot the bullets that hurt the two others.
"We regret that our initial press release was not entirely accurate, but new evidence indicates that this was not the case," Rector said.
Police: the altercation involved more than 2 people
The error came after Jefferson County Sheriff's Office investigators and crime scene experts interviewed witnesses and examined evidence, the police said.
"Investigators now believe that more than two people were involved in the first altercation," Rector said. "This information indicates that there is at least one armed man still on the run."
The officer involved in the shooting is on administrative leave pending an investigation, the police said.
Jefferson County attorney general told Hoover police on Friday that Alabama law enforcement agency would take the lead role in the investigation into the shooting at the county sheriff's office, announced rector. Hoover police will "assist and cooperate fully" in this investigation and "conduct an internal but separate investigation" into shootings involving officers, he said.
& # 39; Freaking out & # 39 ;, then escape
The shooting in Alabama's largest closed shopping mall took place shortly before 10 pm (23h ET) Thursday.
The police do not know how the confrontation started but do not believe that the injured 18-year-old was armed, they said. An armed man opened fire and shot the teenager twice in the chest, police said.
An armed police officer Hoover who worked at the security of the shopping center then confronted an armed man who was fleeing and shot dead, the authorities said.
A 12-year-old girl described by the police as a passer-by was shot once, but by whom, says Rector. The two wounded were taken to the hospital.
Witnesses described chaotic scenes in which gunshots were heard, as customers screamed and staff helped people to flee or hide.
"They put us in storage cupboards and locked the doors. And then we sat there for five to ten minutes to panic, "said Lexie Joyner at CNN affiliate, WBRC. "And then they opened the doors of the emergency exits and we escaped.
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