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By JESSICA GRESKO
Associated Press Writer
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Gunfire erupted at a crowded mall on Christmas Eve afternoon, killing one shopper involved in a fight with the gunman, who also shot at police as he tried to flee, authorities said.
"The suspect ran through the mall and began to fire at officers as they were chasing him through the mall," said Boynton Beach Police Lt. Jeffrey Katz. "Our officers did not return fire."
SWAT team members arrested the suspect after he barricaded himself inside a store at the Boynton Beach Mall, north of Miami, Katz said. It was initially reported three men were arrested, but Katz said "a couple" other men were being questioned by police, Katz said.
The mall was evacuated and no other injuries were reported after the shooting broke out in midafternoon police said.
Sinette White, 19, of Lake Worth, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel she heard popping sounds while getting her nails done and then saw a man on the ground.
She said shoppers gathered around the man as police arrived to give CPR, but then they heard more shots and police told them to take cover. She said the mall was locked down for about an hour before she was evacuated.
A mall spokesman, Sam Yates, said the shooting was outside of a store inside the shopping complex.
It was not immediately clear what started the fight. The names of the victims and the shooter have not been released.
Mall officials said the mall has been closed for the rest of the day.
In North Carolina, a man was charged with attempted murder Sunday following a shooting at a Greensboro mall packed with last-minute shoppers a day earlier. One man was critically wounded by gunfire shortly before the Four Seasons Town Centre closed Saturday.
It was the second shooting this weekend at a North Carolina mall.
One man was slightly wounded at Charlotte's Eastland Mall on Friday evening when an argument between two groups of men ended with one firing through glass entrance doors. No arrests were immediately made.
(Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
