Cary Academy student describes chaotic scene at Concord Mills Mall when man shot by police

Police said they were called to the mall in the afternoon after receiving a report three men stole credit cards from someone inside the mall. When officers attempted to approach the three people outside the mall, police said they ran back into the mall and a chase began.

The mall is located in Cabarrus County near Interstate 85, near the northern part of Mecklenburg County.

Officers chased the three men through the mall and at the end of the pursuit, officers said one of the men took out a handgun. Both officers gave the man multiple commands to drop the gun. The man fired at least one shot at officers, police said.

The man then ran through a construction site at the mall where he again fired a shot at officers, according to police, and the bullet hit the ground in front of the officer. Police said both officers chasing the man returned fire and hit the man.

After the man was shot, officers called EMS and provided first aid. The man was taken to a local hospital for treatment of his injuries. His identity has not been released.

The two other men that ran away were located outside the mall and taken into custody.

The State Bureau of Investigation has been called to handle the investigation, which is typically for shootings involving law enforcement. The names of the two Concord officers involved were not released Wednesday.

Social media posts from people claiming to be shopping inside the mall or working at the mall said they had to shelter in place. Some people detailed hiding in dressing rooms, stores and stockrooms.

Parents, who asked not to be identified by WRAL News, said the entire tenth grade class from Cary Academy was at the mall when shots were fired. Parents said the children were on a field trip to the U.S. National Whitewater Center and had stopped at the mall for lunch.

Cary Academy student Annie Boyse was with some friends looking for a prom dress when an anxious schoolmate came up to her. That's when things got frantic.

"Two people that I didn't quite know in my grade approached me and said 'hey one of my friends just called me and she said there's a shooting,'" said Boyse. "The next thing I remember is all of us just running. We were dodging people that had no idea what was going on."

Cary parents said the children ran and hid in various locations when shots were fired. Parents said after the shooting, the 120 children were taken back to the school.

“What I thought at first, is this a mass shooting?" said Boyse. "Are these people out to target us and kill us? We didn’t know it was an armed robbery. I think all of us are worried about whether they’ll be the target of a mass shooting,”

Mike Ehrhardt, Cary Academy's Head of School, said all children were back home safe.

Concord police asked that anyone with cellphone video of the incident contact SBI.