Shopping Downtown Charlotte

Authorities shot and killed an 18-year-old guy Thursday as a huge selection of Christmas Eve buyers hid and were evacuated from a suburban Charlotte, new york, shopping center, authorities said.

An off-duty Charlotte-Mecklenburg County police working safety at Northlake Mall, about 8 miles north of downtown Charlotte, responded to gunfire during an altercation among "a group of subjects who've a history of feuding" about 2 p.m. ET, Police Chief Kerr Putney said early Thursday evening.

The officer, defined as Thomas Ferguson, unearthed that a couple were armed, Putney said. Whenever one of many people pointed a weapon, the officer opened fire, he said. The man, identified as Daquan Antonio Westbrook, was pronounced dead a short while later.

It hadn't been determined whether Westbrook fired back once again at authorities, Putney said.

The Mecklenburg Emergency health providers department said it managed one client with a leg damage, one patient with an asthma assault and something patient in labor. Novant wellness infirmary in Huntersville informed NBC Development it managed four those who stepped in with injuries pertaining to the incident. It might provide any further details.

No officials were injured, police stated in a declaration at midafternoon. Ferguson ended up being added to paid administrative leave pending an investigation.

Putney stated that the shooting had been an isolated incident and that there was never an "active shooter" danger into the public. There clearly was no proof the argument leading up to it had been gang-related, he said.

"this is simply not a random work of violence, " he stated. "Two parties were beefing to and fro, and it also took place to happen at Northlake Mall."

Putney stated investigators uncovered "evidence of multiple tools" within scene near Dick's sports on lower amount of the shopping center.

"every I heard ended up being only gunshots back-to-back, and actually every person only flooded when you look at the store saying, 'shooter, shooter, shooter, '" Sarah Ward, who works at Bath and Body Works, told WCNC.