Police staffing ‘top priority’ after Southpoint mall shooting, Durham councilman says

A Durham City Council member said Monday that police pay and staffing will be top priorities as the city puts “all ideas and tools on the table” to fight gun violence.

Councilman Mark-Anthony Middleton spoke with The News & Observer Monday after a shooting at the Streets at Southpoint mall on Black Friday. Three people were shot and three others were injured as crowds panicked by gunfire rushed for the exits of the shopping center in southern Durham.

Durham Police did not provide new information on the shootings, except to report on Monday that one of those shot, a man, was still hospitalized. The other two people who were shot — another man and a 10-year-old hit by a ricocheted bullet — were treated for non-life-threatening injuries on Friday and released the same day, police said in an email.

The Durham Police Department did not answer additional follow-up questions or make Chief Patrice Andrews available for an interview Monday.

Middleton said he did not want to presume what actions new Mayor Elaine O’Neal and the council might take but said the shootings show the need for a multi-pronged approach to address a rise in violent crimes in the city. In recent years, the City Council has emphasized alternative approaches to public safety, for example, shifting funding from police vacancies into a new Community Safety Department.

“Addressing the issue of vacancies in our police department is going to be a top priority for us,” Middleton said. “And addressing the issue of pay disparity between Durham and other comparable cities is going to be at the top of mind for us.

“We know that our ability to respond to things that happen, like the issue at Southpoint mall, requires adequate staffing,” he said. “And the response is not just getting there to secure the premises, but also having the personnel to investigate these issues and lead to us getting folks who do things like this off the street.”

The police department had 71 vacancies among its 556 allocated sworn positions earlier this year, or a roughly 13% vacancy rate, which does not factor in officers out on sick time, vacation or other types of leave and training.

No charges reported

Police detained one individual Friday but have not reported any arrests in the shooting, which terrified hundreds of people on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

Durham police officers who were working off-duty inside the mall on Fayetteville Road requested assistance after hearing gunshots around 3:23 p.m., Andrews said during a news conference Friday evening.

The incident, which was reported on the second floor of the mall, involved two groups of people who knew each other, she said, without elaborating.

At least one weapon was recovered, and Andrews said there are “several people we want to be able to locate and speak with.”

Police expect to share descriptions of those involved in the shooting once that information is available, she said Friday night.

“We will be making several arrests, I’m certain, during the course of this investigation,” Andrews said.

As of Nov. 13, there had been 243 people shot in Durham this year, according to police. That was down from 276 by the same date in 2020, but up from 161 in 2019.

Thirty-eight of those shot this year have died, according to police, up from 25 last year and 30 the year before that.

“Shootings in this city have got to stop,” Andrews said. “It’s got to stop. It’s got to stop.”

Police evacuate mall

The Durham County Sheriff’s Office and Highway Patrol were brought in to handle traffic and divert drivers from the mall, Middleton said.

“We’re doing [an] orderly evacuation,” he said late Friday afternoon. “It’s really important that we keep the area as decongested as possible.”

Middleton said Friday that he did not know details about the person being detained or other information about the shooting, which he initially learned about on social media.

People yelling ‘Shooter!’

Mary Moore, who walks with a cane, said she was at the mall “trying to do my Black Friday shopping when I heard them ‘Pop! Pop! Pop!’”

“I had at least gotten my clothes,” she said in an interview. “Some people left their bags. I just grabbed my stuff and ran.”

Aaron Thomas, a WRAL reporter, said on Twitter he was locked in a store with other shoppers and saw many people running.

“We’re waiting to hear from security what prompted this situation,” he tweeted.

Several people posting on Twitter reported gunshots.

Shopper Sam Zhang told The N&O in a Twitter message he was walking toward Macy’s when he saw more than 100 people, maybe 200, running out of the store.

“Some were yelling ‘Shooter!’ Zhang said.

By 4:20 p.m., there was a line of 30 to 40 police cars, ambulances and fire trucks outside Macy’s, Zhang said.

An alert on the mall’s website stated the mall “will be closed until further notice,” but did not provide details.

Friday night, the mall’s management issued a statement:

“Streets at Southpoint is a destination for the community to gather,” it said. “We are saddened and outraged that we were the location for such a senseless act of violence among a group of individuals. Right now we are focusing on the well-being of those impacted by today’s incident. We are grateful to the Durham Police Department for their diligence and partnership. We will offer support to their investigation.”

Anyone with information on Friday’s shooting is asked to call Durham police investigators at 919-560-4440, ext. 29119 or CrimeStoppers at 919-683-1200. CrimeStoppers pays cash rewards for information leading to arrests in felony cases and callers never have to identify themselves.