Virginia : Man shot inside Military Circle mall in Norfolk

In a long hallway inside The Gallery at Military Circle, in front of the soon-to-be-closed J.C. Penney, a gunshot rang out Friday afternoon, sending shoppers fleeing for the exits and leaving one man wounded, though not critically, police said.

The shooting comes less than two months after the mall's management said it would meet with tenants and others to discuss security after a gathering of rowdy teens prompted complaints.

Mall management could not be reached for comment Friday.

Police have several suspects in custody, said Karen Parker-Chesson, a police spokeswoman. Neither their names nor the victim's have been released.

Amy Khan said he was tending to his jewelry kiosk about 1 p.m. when

he heard an argument that grew progressively louder.

"There were big noises - screaming, fighting," Khan said.

Then he heard a gunshot.

"There was just screaming, running," he said. "We've never had something like this. We get kids, 16-, 18-year-olds. Security can handle that."

As she sat at her kiosk just outside J.C. Penney, Corazon Martell said she saw the shooter run toward her. He spotted a security guard and ran down the opposite hallway.

He passed Kimberly Crain as she worked at a store near the entrance of the Doubletree Hotel. She said her boss watched the man run out the doors by the hotel, then circle back into the mall near the movie theater.

"This is a normal thing here," she said. "Notice how everyone continues to shop."

Aside from the section of the mall cordoned off with yellow police tape, mall shoppers did go about their business as usual Friday afternoon.

A few stood outside the crime scene, looking in at the closed shops and police officers.

Shopper Tiara Rivers learned of the shooting after arriving at the mall with her newborn.

"It made me feel terrible, like I'm not safe anywhere," she said. "I'm glad I didn't bring my baby here sooner."

City Councilwoman Angelia Williams, who represents the area, said she had not received all the details of the shooting.

"It's a declining retail area, and this type of activity certainly doesn't help the image of the mall," she said.

The mall's decline has concerned her for a while, she said. She's watched longtime anchors like Sears and now J.C. Penney leave and sees a lot of "open, unfilled spaces in the mall."

"It's a younger crowd, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes younger people will act first and think later," she said.

The owner of the mall, Thor Equities LLC, is in New York, she said.

"It's very difficult when you have a situation like that," she said. "You have people who are out of the area, don't know the area and are just in it for the dollars and cents. It's very difficult to negotiate with them. It's difficult to find out what their vision is for the mall.

They have nothing that ties them to the area."

Friday's shooting is not the first at the mall. A gunfight erupted outside the mall during a drug bust in June 2004, wounding two police officers and two suspects. Artis Carmon Jr. pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted capital murder and two weapons charges. Sammie Henderson III was convicted of two counts of attempted capital murder.