Black Friday may be rough for many shoppers forcing their way through crowds to find great deals, but for Thanksgiving Day shoppers in Birmingham, Alabama suburb Hoover, the event turned into a whole other kind of nightmare.
As hundreds gathered for pre-Black Friday sales Thursday evening, a gunman opened fire at the Riverchase Galleria. At 9:52 p.m. CT, shoppers began reporting gunshots as hundreds fled from the mall. The Hoover Police Department told news outlets, including NBC, that the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office was conducting an investigation into the shooting, which appears to have started after a fight in the mall. Hoover Police Capt. Gregg Rector said a man pulled a gun after a fight and shot an 18-year-old man twice in the torso. A 12-year-old girl was also injured during the incident. Rector said the girl was alert and talking despite her injury.
Witnesses told NBC affiliate WVTM they heard as many as 10 gunshots.
Police arrived at the scene and saw another teenager fleeing the scene. “One of our Hoover officers did engage that individual, shot him and he is dead on the scene,” Rector said. Sadly, the man who was shot by police is no longer believed to have been the original gunman. The deceased was Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr. He was 21 years old and police now say that while he “may have been involved in some aspect of the altercation,” evidence determined he was likely not the shooter. The real gunman is still at large.
Bradford’s father told the Associated Press Saturday night that his son had a permit to carry a gun. He also said it was hurtful to see his son portrayed as the shooter.
“Unfortunately, an individual lost his life. Unfortunately, one of our police officers had to engage that individual,” Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato said during a press conference the night of the shooting. “He did so as a professional. He did so at the risk of his own life. But he stepped in to protect thousands, and I’m grateful for that.”
Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis also had praised the police response, saying he was “very, very proud” of how officers handled the situation.
“From the time that shooting took place, they engaged and it was safe within seconds that it happened,” Derzis said. “You don’t see that too often. So very, very proud of that.”
The officer has since been placed on administrative leave as the shooting is investigated.
“We are devastated by the incident that happened last night in our shopping center,” Lindsay Kahn, a spokesperson for the retail group who owns the mall, said the day after the shooting. “We are working closely with the Hoover Police Department and are grateful for their swift action to contain the situation.”
The mall reopened at 6 a.m. for Black Friday.
WVTM posted cell-phone footage taken from a shopper during the incident showing patrons running from the gun shots. Watch below: