Two people were wounded in a shooting at an Arkansas mall on Black Friday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year, authorities said.
Little Rock police in a news release called the shooting, which occurred at 1:44 p.m. local time at Park Plaza, an isolated incident rather than an active shooter situation. Police said that it was believed to have started as a “disturbance between two individuals, which escalated into gunfire.”
Both victims are expected to make full recoveries, police said. No arrests were immediately announced.
Little Rock Police Chief Heath Helton initially said in an afternoon news conference that responding officers found one wounded person at the scene and two others arrived at a hospital later. However, police later clarified that only one victim had been taken to an area hospital by private vehicle, not two.
The exact circumstances of the shooting were unclear. Troy Daniell, a manager for Journey’s Kidz shoe store, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette he was working when he heard the gunshots “and got all of the customers that were in my store out of there. I got them all in the back of the store and out of there. When I heard the first (shot) I thought something may have fell, but then I heard a few more shots and immediately understood what was happening.”
In a statement, Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. said that “the careless, senseless and criminal actions of two individuals today jeopardized the lives and safety of residents and visitors. We are praying for the victims of this incident and hoping they make a full recovery.”
