Four Wilmington men charged for incident at Independence Mall

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Four Wilmington men have been arrested after an incident on Tuesday at Independence Mall in Wilmington.  

Wilmington police say around 3:45 Tuesday afternoon, they and other surrounding agencies responded to 911 calls for reports of 4 men walking around the mall with guns in their hands; at least one gun was described as a rifle.

As officers arrived, they say the four suspects fled in a white car, which police followed.

Police quickly searched the mall, evacuating customers and employees who had hidden in the back of stores throughout the mall.

Police found no evidence of any gunshots having been fired and cleared the premises sometime after 4 in the afternoon.

We spoke with Sophia Marzano, an employee at Shantique Gift Shop inside the mall.

She said she and a group of customers had to barricade themselves in the back of the store.

“I was shocked, so people came in her,e and then they went in the back of my store, and we had to barricade the door actually,” Marzano said. “And then we just waited, and then they called our phone back there, and they were like we got him, we arrested him and then we came back out. But yeah, it was crazy.”

Eliza Friberg and Vivienne Davis were shopping at Pac-Sun when the incident began.

“What happen was we were just shopping in Pac-Sun and heard randomly screaming and everybody running, and then we heard a Pac-Sun worker we like go into the back go into the back,” Davis said.

“Then they let us back out and let us know everything was okay,” said Friberg.

Police chased the car until Wilshire Boulevard, where two of the 4 men were arrested, with the other two running away on foot.

They were both found a short time later.

25-year-old Jordan Smith, 20-year-old Tristian Allen, 23-year-old Rashaad Rogers, and 19-year-old Damien Turner are now in custody.

A firearm that had been thrown from the vehicle during the chase was recovered.

Smith faces charges of possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of a stolen firearm, and other charges.

Allen was given a bond of $1,200.

The other 3 men currently have no bond each.

This case is still under investigation and we will bring you more details as they are made available.