Shoppers who were inside the West County Mall in St. Louis ran frantically for their lives after hearing gunshots being fired. Hundreds of people ran for safety and many were cramped inside the mall's bathroom locking it from the inside.
Pictures that were shared on Twitter show people hiding at stalls, stores, bathrooms until the police arrived. The shooting occurred at 7:50 pm in the area of the PacSun store on the second level of the mall.
Mall authorities' initial call to police said an "active shooter" was on a rampage inside the mall. The police quickly arrived at the scene.
It is reported that an altercation between two groups of people turned violent and a man from one of the groups pulled out a gun and fired at the other. However, no one was injured during the mishap, reported Fox2Now.
The police briefly placed the mall on lockdown, forcing shoppers and staff to remain inside stores, restaurants and bathrooms for their safety.
The police have detained the two groups of people connected with the altercation and shooting at the West County Mall and investigation is currently underway.
News reporters at the scene reveal a number of police cars flashing blue lights reached the mall within minutes to attend the shooting incident and brought it under control.
One shopper who took cover in the mall's bathroom shared a picture of himself being cramped with other people in the mall's bathroom and captioned the picture saying the U.S needs gun control immediately. "Currently hiding in a bathroom at the mall on a Friday night in St. Louis because shots were fired in the mall. GUN CONTROL NOW," he tweeted.
Another shopper who had entered the mall from the lower level near Dick's Sporting Goods revealed to Fox 2 that he heard a round of gunshots being fired and saw a man coming down an escalator with a weapon in his hand.
The shopper and several others at the lower level ran to the nearby GAP store and took cover, unaware of the situation and not knowing if anyone else were in danger. The shopper revealed he heard at least six gunshots and called 911 while hiding.
An elderly woman said after the shots were fired, people ran frantically and her grandson slipped from her hands and she had a hard time finding him again, which she eventually did.
The mall has now been cordoned off by police officers and shoppers who took cover have been asked to leave by the authorities after finding it safe to relieve them.
