Police responded to reports of a shooting Sunday afternoon at a shopping mall in Boca Raton, Florida and confirmed that one man had been injured and transported to a hospital. Authorities did not apprehend a suspect and there were no other significant injuries reported, police said.
The Boca Raton Police Services Department had initially tweeted that the victim had suffered a gunshot wound but during a press conference later in the afternoon police chief Dan Alexander told reporters “we do not know” if there was gunfire and that and that the injury appears to be non-life threatening trauma.
The Boca Raton police Twitter account later issued a correction, clarifying that it was only a “possible” gunshot wound.
Alexander also said the police recovered no weapons but were still investigating who the culprit may be and whether they had any relationship with the victim. The incident appeared to be confined to the mall’s food court area, he said.
Local law enforcement said that they were conducting an active search of the area and had told people to “avoid the mall area,” according to a tweet from the Boca Raton Police Services Department shortly after 3:30 p.m. At this time, authorities have not identified the circumstances which led to the shooting, how many shots were fired or if there were any further injuries.
Authorities did not respond to a request for further information.
People at and near Town Center Mall posted videos on social media, showing a chaotic scene with a heavy police presence. One video shows a person running with their phone while it records, a panicked “no, no, no, no, no” can be heard.
This story is developing.
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