Gunman shot dead after shopping mall fight

   

A gunman has been shot dead after a fight inside a shopping mall packed with Christmas Eve shoppers.

The incident at Northlake Mall in Charlotte, North Carolina, started when two groups of men began arguing.

One man started shooting, and then off-duty police officers opened fire, killing the gunman.

A spokesman for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said: "There was one armed subject that was shot during the altercation and he was pronounced deceased on scene by Medic.

"No officers were injured during this shooting."

John Dawson, a salesman, said: "There was a dude fighting with one or two dudes."

One person pulled out a gun and started "shooting everywhere", he said.

The mall has been secured and there is no ongoing threat, said Jeff Keith, deputy director of the Mecklenburg Emergency Medical Services Agency.

"With all the things that have occurred in this country in the past couple of years, we want to assure people that this is an isolated, specific event, not of any random nature," he said.

Shoppers fled the scene as witnesses heard five or six shots.

Jasmine, who works at Aldo in the mall, told Fox News the gunshots were about 100 yards from her store.

She said staff closed the shop and hid in a back room until officers arrived.

Source: Sky