Man assaulted, gun stolen during fight at Southpoint mall, Durham police say
One person was assaulted during a robbery at The Streets at Southpoint mall on Wednesday, Durham police said Thursday, an incident in which a handgun was stolen.
The incident, previously described by mall officials as a “physical altercation,” occurred in the mall’s food court shortly after 6 p.m., the Durham Police Department said in a news release.
Wednesday’s incident comes less than two weeks after an attempted robbery at the mall on Black Friday resulted in multiple shots being fired, leading hundreds of shoppers to run for the shopping center’s exits.
On Wednesday, police said three individuals were approached by a group of juveniles and that a “physical confrontation” ensued. In the midst of the confrontation, one individual had a wallet and handgun stolen from them, according to the release.
An adult male was assaulted, police said. He was part of the group of three people who the juveniles approached. The group of minors subsequently fled the mall in three vehicles described by police as a black sedan, a gray sedan and a gray SUV.
The man who was assaulted did not have life-threatening injuries and was taken to a local hospital.
No shots were fired at any point during the incident, police said.
Lindsay Kahn, director of public relations for Brookfield Properties, the mall’s owner, previously told The News & Observer that a fight had broken out in the food court and was “handled really quickly,” with no disruption to shoppers or the mall’s hours of operation.
Kahn also refuted the account of an unnamed witness who told WRAL that a man involved in the altercation was “waving a gun around,” which the witness said led people nearby to run from the food court.
“There was no visible waving of a gun,” Kahn said in a text message.
WRAL reported that witnesses said the fight happened around 6:30 p.m. and created “another rush of people attempting to leave the mall.”
In reference to Wednesday’s altercation, Kahn said the mall has “zero tolerance for this behavior.”
Under current policy, the mall prohibits people from bringing any firearms or illegal weapons inside, or from engaging in any “disorderly conduct of any nature.”
Kahn said mall officials are continuing to work with Durham police on safety measures, but declined to provide further details citing a mall policy against discussing its security protocols publicly.
Black Friday shooting
On Nov. 26, three people were struck by bullets on one of the mall’s busiest days of the year. Two of the people — a 10-year-old girl and a 58-year-old man — suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Police identified the third person shot as a 26-year-old man who they say tried to rob a man selling jewelry outside a store on the mall’s second level. He remained hospitalized as of Dec. 3, a week following the shooting incident.
Police also responded to the mall in October, when a fight broke out in the mall’s food court and a gun was displayed, but not fired.
Reports that shots had been fired came from the loud bangs of a broomstick hitting a table, police said at the time.
Anyone with information about Wednesday’s incident is asked to contact Investigator N. Byrd at (919) 560-4440, ext. 29136 or Durham Crimestoppers at (919) 683-1200. Crimestoppers pays cash rewards for information leading to felony arrests, and callers do not have to identify themselves.
This story was originally published December 9, 2021 at 1:48 PM.
