PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY, MARYLAND – Three people were wounded in a mid-day shooting Friday at Iverson Mall, located near Branch Avenue and Iverson Street in Hillcrest Heights. The incident occurred around 12:45 p.m., approximately 35 minutes after a shooting in a North Carolina mall food court left four people injured.
According to Prince George’s County Police Chief Malik Aziz, shots were fired after what was described as a verbal altercation among two suspects and the three victims at the mall’s entrance.
The preliminary investigation indicates that two male suspects were leaving the mall when one of them turned around, firing multiple rounds at the other group. An adult male victim is now listed in critical condition and two adult female victims are reported to be in serious condition, according to Aziz.
There were two officers assigned to security at the mall at the time of the shooting. The pair, assisted by an off-duty officer visiting the mall, provided first aid to the victims until medical personnel arrived and transported them to a local hospital.
Multiple witness accounts indicated that the suspects fled the scene in an unknown direction, but it was undetermined if they were on foot or in a vehicle.
During a news briefing, Chief Aziz said, “Investigators at Oxon Hill Division Four are working diligently to put their statements together so we can locate these individuals who openly did a brazen act in public with reckless disregard for who they may have injured. We must address these senseless acts of gun violence by any means.”
