Exchange of gunfire inside Mall of Louisiana leaves 1 person dead and 5 wounded

Authorities initially said as many as 10 people had been injured but later revised that number. Morse did not immediately say what set off the shooting at the mall in the Louisiana capital.

Desire Batton, who works at a clothing store, said she and other workers dashed inside a breakroom to protect themselves.

“We hid in there until cops came and got us,” Batton said.

The shooting began around 1:30 p.m. when the two groups argued inside the food court and started shooting at each other, Morse said. The chief made public appeals for witnesses to come forward with any video of the shooting.

By late afternoon, dozens of police cars still were clustered in the parking lot, multiple helicopters hovered overhead and armed officers in bulletproof vests patrolled the area.

Mall spokesperson Lindsay Kahn called it a “frightening day” for everyone there and said the mall would not reopen Thursday.

Kennedy Barnum, 22, said she had gone to the mall to get lunch at the food court when she heard a woman on the phone outside say, “I’ll call you back. There’s an active shooter in the mall.”

Within five minutes, Barnum said, law enforcement had swarmed the mall. She saw people running and crying, including one girl she described as “hysterical.”

“We spoke to a security guard there and she told us that there was an active shooter there, people were shot and injured, and we should leave immediately,” Barnum said.

It’s at least the second high-profile case of gun violence in Louisiana this week. A father fatally shot eight children, including seven of his own, in an attack on his family Sunday morning that stretched across two houses in a Shreveport neighborhood, police said. Two women, including the gunman’s wife who was the mother of their children, were critically wounded.

AP reporters Jack Brook in New Orleans and Jim Mustian in Natchitoches, Louisiana, contributed to this story.