Police: Man arrested after shots fired at Northlake Mall

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — CMPD charged Antonio Gaines, 27, with two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill.

CMPD arrested a second man, Timothy Hines, 27, who was found with Gaines at the time of his arrest. They charged Hines with probation violation and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police confirmed that shots were fired outside the Northlake Mall Monday afternoon, but that no one was shot and that the shooter had fled the scene.

Authorities did not locate a shooting victim, and paramedics said they did not treat any patients at the scene.

CMPD said in a news release that officers were called to the mall at 3:15 p.m., but found no victims or suspects.

Police released 911 calls Tuesday made from the mall.

"There's somebody shooting at Northlake Mall. There's been a shooting at the mall," the caller told dispatch.

"Do you know if anybody's been shot?" dispatch asked the caller.

“I don't know, I don't know. I'm upstairs, I don't know,” the caller said. “We don't know who's shooting. We don't know, we just heard the shots."

"Do you think anybody needs medic?" the dispatch asked another caller.

"I don't know. Everybody just started running. I heard it, it was like two or three shots, and everybody just started running," the caller said.

Shoppers told reporter Elsa Gillis Monday that they were asked to leave the mall, and a short time later authorities said the mall was back open for business.

Police said they have determined that if any shots were fired, they were outside of the mall, and allowed stores to remain open.

Yolanda Nolasco, 11, said she was trying on jeans in Forever 21 when she heard the commotion.

"I went to go find my family,” she said. “I was just crying and then my mom told (me) that ‘everything's going to be alright.’"

Shoppers said they didn't know exactly what was going on.
 
"A store employee came running back into the store and she yelled 'there's someone shooting,'" one shopper said.
 
Employees acted quickly.

"The doors were closed. They said 'everybody get dressed.' They had everybody huddle in the corner," another shopper said.
 
One shopper said she called 911 from the bathroom and waited for the all-clear.

"They said not to go out and to stay there until the police arrived and I asked how we would know and they said they would announce themselves," she said.

No arrests have been made.

The mall was open for business as usual Tuesday. Mall officials said they always have security at the mall.

Customers said they welcome the extra security, and would like to see police get more involved.

“You want your family to be safe and the more incidents that happen, the less likely people are going to come to the area to shop,” Ron Cummins said.

This isn't the first shooting to happen in or around the Northlake Mall.

An off-duty CMPD officer shot and killed a man there on Christmas Eve during an argument between two groups.

Northlake Mall statement: We are fully supporting the police in their investigation regarding an isolated and contained incident outside the mall. Please contact CMPD for further details.

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