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* From correspondents in Oklahoma
* From: AP
* April 11, 2010 2:18PM GUNFIRE broke out inside a crowded US shopping mall yesterday, leaving a
teenager dead and several injured in what witnesses described as a
gunfight, police said.
Five people were taken to a hospital as authorities cordoned off the
Arrowhead Mall in downtown Muskogee, Oklahoma, an area crowded with
visitors attending the city's annual Azalea Festival, police spokesman
Pedro Zardeneta said. It was unclear whether the person killed, 17-year-old Jarrod Reed, was
among several people involved in the shooting or a bystander, he said.
Details about the other victims, including their conditions, haven't
been released, hospital spokesman Chad Wetz said. Shoppers were told to leave quickly by a public-address announcement and
they gathered outside. Several said they'd heard four or five shots
inside the mall. Tonya Pierce said her daughter and two friends were waiting for a ride
home when shots rang out. Her daughter told her that "people started
screaming" and a group of men started shooting, Ms Pierce said. Witnesses told police they thought it was a gunfight, Mr Zardeneta said.
Gunfire was reported but not confirmed elsewhere in the city after the
mall shooting, he said. Screams grew to a crescendo as shoppers fled the shopping centre, said
Hope Bridges, manager of Kat Daddy's Bar and Grill in the mall. She
called 911 and was told to evacuate her nearly full restaurant. Merchants had looked forward to the day's festival drawing more
business, she said. "It was a great business day for the mall. Everyone was happy, everybody
was in town," Ms Bridges said. "It was something the mall had been
looking forward to."
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