Several hurt in stampede after report of shots in mall

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Witness reports of gunshots ringing out inside a busy North Carolina mall caused chaos Saturday afternoon as shoppers ran screaming for the doors or sheltered in stores while dozens of officers arrived.

Police said hours later they were investigating but hadn't confirmed shots had been fired, adding no one was found wounded by gunfire although several people running away suffered minor injuries.

The shopping area in an affluent area of Raleigh was put on lockdown as helicopters buzzed overhead and law-enforcement vehicles swarmed the area.

Raleigh police said they initially responded at 2:30 p.m. to reports shots had been fired inside Crabtree Valley Mall. They said they had not made any arrests by late afternoon.

"We are examining all possibilities," Raleigh police chief Cassandra Deck-Brown said.

The police chief said no shell casings had been found by late afternoon. But she said witnesses heard what sounded like gunshots, and added the FBI, sheriff's office and state investigators were also on scene.

Eight people ranging in age from 10 to 70 were transported to hospitals for treatment of injuries suffered as they rushed to leave the mall, she said. None of those injuries appeared to be life-threatening.

Video posted on social media sites shows dozens of people running toward mall exit doors as screams were heard.

Outside the mall, where people gathered afterward, a police officer got on the loudspeaker of a firetruck and said there was no one shot in the mall. Witnesses described chaos after reports of shots.

John Riggleman and Kristin Warring said they were heading to a video-game store when they heard shots from the food court. They quickly ran into the store with dozens of others.

Riggleman said when they finally were allowed to leave, they passed about 10 officers or SWAT team members moving the other way with guns drawn.

"They had guns up, kind of covering us as we were running out. And then there were more back toward the exit kind of telling people where to go," Riggleman said.

Another person said he saw an argument between two men in the food court that led to at least four shots being fired. Antonio Richardson told The Associated Press that he saw two men who appeared to be in their early 20s arguing and that one of them began shooting.

Footage from a news helicopter showed shoppers filing out of the mall with their hands over their heads as police took control of the scene.

Deck-Brown said at her news conference that the mall had been emptied and people weren't being allowed back inside in the hours after the shooting.

In the late afternoon heat, scores of people gathered outside the mall, appearing to wait for news of what happened or to find loved ones who had sheltered inside.

Zoe Hanks, 12, was at a hairdresser inside the mall, having the hair around her shoulders lightened, when word of an emergency came. She left with chemicals still in her hair and a towel around her neck. She said she knew it was time to go when "all the people were running."