JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Police were searching Friday for three men in an afternoon shooting inside the Regency Square Mall that wounded a mall worker and prompted a nearby elementary school to impose a lockdown.
The shooting occurred shortly after noon inside the mall near the Belk department store and prompted widespread panic inside the shopping center, located in the 9500 block of Arlington Expressway.
The unidentified victim was rushed to a local hospital for treatment after she was struck by a bullet in the arm. Authorities said her wounds were not life threatening and she was said to be in stable condition.
Police and witnesses said the men fired at least three shots into the air before running out of the mall. It was not clear what prompted the shooting but one of the bullets struck the woman while she was working at a mall sunglasses kiosk.
Several law enforcement officers responded to the scene after emergency workers were called. Several police cars were parked outside and a police helicopter was seen flying above the scene during the search for suspects.
"We are looking to figure out who they are," said Sheriff's Office spokesman Brian Richardson, adding that it appears that the woman was a random victim of the gunfire. Police said they were reviewing several hours of footage from mall surveillance cameras as they sought to identify and apprehend the suspects.
As of 5 pm, portions of the mall remain closed but several stores reopened. Shoppers were advised to call the shopping center at 904-725-3830 to check whether it's been reopened.
Shooting prompts school lockdown
The gunfire prompted administrators at nearby Seacoast Christian Academy to lock their doors and bar their 135 pre-school and elementary students from leaving. Officials said the students at the school, which is about 100 feet from the mall, were taking a nap when they heard of the incident at the mall.
School administrators required parents to show picture identification in order to retrieve students from the facility.
Anyone with information about the suspects was asked to call Crimestoppers at 866-845-8477.
Action News reporters Karl Torp, Dee Registre and Leslie Coursey contributed to this report.
