1 dead after fight at North Carolina mall

A gunman has been shot dead Thursday by police who responded to reports of a shooting at a mall in Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. media reported.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg County police told NBC News that officers working off-duty as security officers at the Northlake Mall, about 8 miles north of downtown Charlotte, responded to an altercation between two groups of people about 2 p.m. ET. “This was not a random act of violence and the subjects involved are known to one another”, read a statement from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. Throughout the fight a weapon was brandished & shots have been fired about 2pm at Northlake Mall in Charlotte, Putney stated. Christmas Eve shoppers were forced to go elsewhere or abandoned plans for last-minute gifts. “Didn’t think anything of it”, Wallace said.

Putney says Ferguson fired his service weapon. He tells The Associated Press, “Chaos erupted as shoppers dove for cover or tried to get out of the door”.

“It was absolutely chaotic”, she said, “All I heard was gunshots back to back, and literally everybody just flooded in the store saying, ‘Shooter!” Police identified the man killed as 18-year-old Daquan Antonio Westbrook.

CNN affiliate WSOC reported that Westbrook was a rapper who performed under the name “Donkey Cartel”. He had an extensive criminal record. He said it began with an argument inside a store, which he said was packed with customers.

They discovered that one man was armed.

The police statement said that the situation was not considered “an active shooter situation”, an indication that no armed suspects were on the loose.

Chief Putney says the shooting turned out to be an isolated incident. “The good thing about this case is that there are a lot of witnesses”.