NORFOLK, Va. - Three 18-year-old men have been detained and are awaiting charges after a shooting at MacArthur Center that sent a teen and an adult to the hospital.
Dispatch received the call at 2:16 p.m. The shooting occurred on the first level of Nordstrom, according to the MacArthur Center Mall general manager.
Norfolk Police said two people - a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old - were injured after a fight inside the mall that led to shots being fired. Both were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The 16-year-old was taken to Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters, and the 18-year-old was taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, police told News 3.
Both are expected to be okay.
One of the three people detained was the 18-year-old man found shot inside the mall, police say.
The mall was placed on lockdown for about two hours while police investigated. It has since been cleared and has reopened for business.
The Norfolk campus of Tidewater Community College, which is near the mall, also went on lockdown but has since reopened the facility, school announced.
Police say the shooting is being investigated as an isolated incident.
News 3 reporter Margaret Kavanagh spoke to several shoppers who witnessed the chaos.
Sitting just 15 feet away, Victoria Hritsko said she saw a group start fighting.
"I didn't really think anything of it. [I] just thought, 'Oh, we've got to call security," she said.
They said it was violent.
"One of the gentlemen picked up the trashcan lid and threw it at one of the other guys," said witness Seth Schaill.
Witnesses say one of the men fell down in the midst of the brawl, pulling up his pants after standing up.
Hritsko said she saw him reach into his pants and pull out a gun.
Several gunshots were then heard throughout the mall.
"As soon as I started turning, I heard him start shooting the gun, so we started running out, and then after we started running through Nordstrom," Schaill told us.
While some ran, others hid in stores.
"[We] just booked it to the back of the room. We were in the employee room in the back and the manager closed the front gate and we were just locked in the back," said Lacey Frazier.
It was a shocking experience for shoppers this Valentine's Day.
"[I'm] better now, but at the beginning it was rough. I was bawling my eyes out, like freaking out, shaking - adrenaline was crazy. It was rough, for sure," Hritsko said.
Detectives have not yet released the names of those facing charges. Anyone who has information is asked to call the Norfolk Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-UP-UP (1-888-562-5887) or submit a tip through the P3Tips mobile app.
This story will continue to be updated as more information becomes available.
