Fight sparks North Carolina mall shooting; 1 killed

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Police say a long-standing dispute sparked a shooting at a North Carolina mall on Christmas Eve, and that an off-duty officer fatally shot a man who pointed a gun in his direction.

Police say no one else was shot Thursday. There were no reports of injuries. Chief Kerr Putney of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department says the shooting was not a random act but rather the result of a feud among people who knew each other.

Witnesses say Charlotte’s Northlake Mall was chaotic as shots rang out, with some shoppers fleeing into stores.

Putney says Officer Thomas Ferguson was working off-duty at the mall when he heard shots and confronted the man who pointed a gun in his direction.

Putney says Ferguson fired his service weapon. Police identified the man killed as 18-year-old Daquan Antonio Westbrook.

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