Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
Chaos erupted at an Alabama mall on Thanksgiving night when a gunman shot an 18-year-old and was then killed by officers. A 12-year-old girl was wounded during the incident at the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover, which sent shoppers running for the exits. Hoover Police Capt. Greg Rector said the violence began with a physical confrontation in front of a sneaker shop in the mall. One of the parties pulled out a gun and fired at the 18-year-old and then fled through the shopping center. Two uniformed officers stationed at the mall for early Black Friday crowds encountered the gunman and shot him, Rector said. It was not clear if the girl was wounded in the initial exchange of shots or when police began firing; her condition was unknown. One shaken witness who heard the shots said he couldn’t believe what had happened. “This was my first Black Friday, I knew it would be crazy, just not this crazy,” he told AL.com.