Two groups of people got into an argument and started shooting at each other.

On Thursday, at least one person was killed and five others injured in a shooting at the food court of a shopping mall in Baton Rouge, in Louisiana.

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Police had initially said there were 10 people wounded in the shooting and later revised the number. The injured were taken to local hospitals. Five people were in custody.

“Two groups of people got into an argument inside the food court and started shooting at each other. Unfortunately, there were some innocent people that were in the area that might have also caught some rounds,” Baton Rouge Police Chief Thomas Morse Jr. said.

The shooting, which took place at 1:22 p.m. local time at the Mall of Louisiana, does not appear to be a random act of violence, “but a very targeted kind of disagreement between two groups of people,” said Morse, adding that “there is no known threat to the public.”

The mall was closed immediately after the shooting, and the Baton Rouge General Hospital, which is near the mall, was on lockdown for around an hour Thursday afternoon.

Police were still searching for suspects, with multiple helicopters hovering overhead and armed officers in bulletproof vests patrolling the area.

“This is still an ongoing investigation, and we’re still looking for more people that may be involved,” the police chief said.

Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Kash Patel said that FBI New Orleans and agents out of Baton Rouge were continuing to assist their partners with the probe into the shooting. 

teleSUR/ JF

Source: Xinhua

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