At least ten people were shot and two trampled at a Columbia, S.C. mall Saturday afternoon.
The shooting happened at the Columbiana Centre as patrons visited over a busy Easter weekend. Multiple callers reported shots fired near the mall’s GAP clothing store between 2:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said at a press conference.
Multiple state and local law enforcement agencies responded to the incident.
During his remarks, Chief Holbrook stated that the situation is active – with law enforcement teams still inside the complex to individually clear stores. A shelter-in-place order is currently in effect for all persons still inside the mall, who have been ordered by police to not leave the stores they are currently inside.
Police confirmed that there were 12 victims of the shooting. Ten suffered gunshot wounds, while two were trampled in a stampede to the mall’s exits. No fatalities had been reported as of late Saturday afternoon, though two victims were hospitalized in critical condition.
Chief Holbrook said the victims’ ages range between 15 and 73 years old. Additionally, he noted that “all injured persons have been accounted for.”
A reunification center had been set-up by police at a nearby hotel to assist patrons separated from their loved ones.
Holbrook also stated that police have detained three persons of interest in the shooting, though he declined to call them “suspects” or comment on motives. WLXT19 News reported that three people with firearms had been spotted in the mall shortly before the shooting and were reported to know each other.