A man was shot in the wrist at a New Jersey mall crowded with Black Friday shoppers and police evacuated the building as they tried to find the shooter.
Police received reports of shots fired at the Mills at Jersey Gardens mall in Elizabeth, New Jersey, around 8 p.m. on Friday, said Lieutenant Todd Kelly of the Elizabeth Police Department.
“We have not been able to apprehend the suspect at this time,” Kelly said, adding that the injured man would not cooperate with police.
Black Friday is one of the busiest U.S. shopping days of the year and 25,000 people had passed through the mall since it opened at 10 a.m. on Thursday, said Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage.
“The mall has been evacuated and all shoppers are out. No one is in danger at the moment,” Bollwage tweeted.
Shopper Junior Vallejo said he heard one shot while he was with his family at the mall. He posted images on twitter of people peering out of a storefront that had gone into lockdown.
“Everyone is being evacuated and there are some still too afraid to leave the stores,” Vallejo said from the mall. “Everyone is panicking and crying.”
Loes Zaitsev posted a video of police cars outside the mall as crowds of people ran away from the building clutching children and shopping bags.
