A deadly shooting erupted inside the food court of a Michigan shopping mall after an earlier bathroom fight allegedly spilled into a second confrontation.
KeShawn Emery, 20, was shot and killed at Great Lakes Crossing Outlets in Auburn Hills on Saturday, July 11, at around 5:20 p.m., according to Local 4.
His family told the outlet that Emery had been at the food court with his cousin when the gunfire broke out.
Witness Demond Clayton said he was eating when he suddenly heard two loud bangs.
“I was sitting at the table eating my food and the next thing I heard was ‘boom’ and then another ‘boom,’” Clayton told Local 4. “I said, ‘That’s not fireworks, that’s gunshots,’ so I look around at the mall and everyone just scatters out.”
Clayton said he hid beneath a table until the shooting stopped.
Once the gunfire ended, he got up and began recording the chaos with his Meta glasses.
“So, I get up, I have on my Meta glasses as you see right here and I started recording and it was just chaos everywhere, people just scattered,” he said. “The mall cleared out in less than 15 seconds.”
The Auburn Hills Police Department said officers were already nearby when reports of shots fired came in.
When police arrived, they found Emery dead and a 19-year-old woman suffering from injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
Authorities took the alleged shooter, a 22-year-old man with a Concealed Pistol License, into custody.
Police said their initial investigation determined that the 22-year-old and Emery had been involved in an altercation earlier inside a food court bathroom.
Sometime later, police said, Emery and another unidentified Black man spotted the shooter in the food court’s common area and allegedly attacked him.
A physical fight broke out between the three men, and the shooting happened during that confrontation, according to investigators.
The mall was evacuated as officers searched the property.
“This was an isolated, tragic incident,” police said.
No other injuries were reported.
Great Lakes Crossing Outlets remained closed for the rest of the day while police investigated the shooting.
The case will be submitted to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office for review.
“We want to thank our law enforcement partners from around Oakland County, the Great Lakes Crossing security staff, and the Auburn Hills Fire Department for their coordinated response to this incident,” police said.
The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office also confirmed that it was assisting Auburn Hills police with the investigation.
Requests for additional comment were sent to the Auburn Hills Police Department and Great Lakes Crossing Outlets on Sunday, July 12, but no immediate responses were received.
Sounds like self defense to me.