A 12-year-old girl is among two people shot after a gunman opened fire into Black Friday crowds at a packed shopping centre in Alabama.
An 18-year-old man was also injured and is believed to be in a serious condition. The attack followed a physical altercation between the teenager and the gunman at the Riverchase Galleria mall, in the town of Hoover, at around 9.50pm local time on Thursday, according to US authorities.
The shooter was shot dead by police as he fled the scene, CNN reports.
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Witness Lexi Joiner told Alabama news website AL.com that she was shopping with her mother when she heard six or seven gunshots. “It was terrifying”, she said.
Hoover Police Captain Gregg Rector told reporters: “We received a call of shots fired outside of [the store] Foot Action.
“We already had multiple officers working at the mall for traffic control and police presence inside.”
The incident in Alabama is by no means the first death linked to Black Friday, when shops offer major discounts. Fights, stampedes and even fatal attacks have occurred in previous years as shoppers compete for the best deals.
According to website BlackFridayDeathCount.com, ten people have died and more than 100 have been injured in Black Friday violence since 2006.
Last year, a man was shot and another was stabbed at a mall in Texas after a fight broke out in the car park, reports Fox News.
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