Rocky Mount mall employee: 'We heard about 10 shots'

Golden East Crossing Mall in Rocky Mount reopened Sunday, one day after shots were fired inside the mall, injuring a 13-year-old boy.

Police found shell casings but have not made any arrests. Mall security called 911 just before 7:20 p.m., and police closed the building and ordered shoppers and workers to leave.

Chad Carpenter, who works at T-Mobile inside the mall, said he saw the shooter and heard gunfire. He and several others hid in the back of the store.

"The next thing we knew, we heard about 10 shots go off, real rapid fire, and I saw a bunch of people running, a bunch of people screaming," Carpenter said. "There was a guy. He was basically running and shooting at the same time. The Victoria's Secret window got blown out. He ran through the Kids Foot Locker and maybe through Belk (and) JCPenney."

Police said a 13-year-old boy went to Nash General Hospital with a graze wound on his leg, but they thought he was an innocent bystander accidentally hit by a bullet. The boy was treated and released.

Police have not released a motive for the shooting. Carpenter said he was still shaken by the incident.

"It's bad. I've grown up in Rocky Mount all my life. I hate to see something like this happen," he said. "It's just bad. People are not going to want to come to the mall."

Anyone with any information is urged to call the Rocky Mount Police Department at 252-972-1411 or the Crime Stoppers hotline at 252-977-1111.

In December 2009, Richeem Robinson, then 18, fired on three people inside the mall, hitting a wall and shattering some glass doors. No one was injured, and Robinsion surrendered to police about a week later.

Robinson was convicted of four counts of misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon and served two months in jail, according to state Department of Correction records.