One person was injured Friday in a shooting at the Tacoma Mall, Washington, according to authorities.
Panic gripped hundreds of people who had gone shopping for Black Friday and hid inside the stores while the mall closed.
Authorities said the shooting in Tacoma, south of Seattle, was reported just after 7:00 p.m. in an area near the mall's food court.
The person who was shot was taken to the hospital with
serious injuries,
Tacoma police said.
No suspect has been arrested.
Pierce County Sheriff's Sgt. Darren Moss said police came in to conduct a "coordinated search" of the mall.
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Authorities came from "across the county" to assist in the effort to find anyone who may be related to the shooting, the sheriff's department noted on Twitter.
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Moments of panic
Some buyers had to shelter in place while authorities carried out their search and investigation, said Seattle-based NBC affiliate KING.
Fredrick Hoskins was shopping with his daughter when he heard gunshots.
“There was a boom, boom, boom ... boom, boom, boom. Maybe like six shots, ”
Hoskins, a former Army member, told The News Tribune.
"It sounded like a revolver and it looked like a single attacker," he added.
With more than 100 stores, the Tacoma Mall is the largest mall in the city.
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The shooting is at least the second to occur in a U.S. mall on a busy Black Friday shopping spree.
Meanwhile, in Durham, North Carolina, three people, including a 10-year-old boy, were injured in a shooting Friday afternoon at The Streets at Southpoint.
Three other people had non-gunshot wounds, according to Durham police.
With information from
NBC News
and The Associated Press.