Police investigating report of gunfire at Durham’s Southpoint mall

Durham Police are investigating a report of gunfire at The Streets at Southpoint early Sunday afternoon, although officers say they haven’t been able to locate any suspects or victims.

Police responded to the parking lot of the shopping mall at 6910 Fayetteville Road in Durham at about 2:15 p.m. after a report of a suspicious person with a weapon, a statement from the Durham Police Department said. Officers received a report of shots being fired as they arrived, but no injuries were reported.

“Preliminary reports do not indicate officers heard the gunfire during today’s incident,” Lt. Jackie Werner said by email Sunday night.

The incident “did not appear to be random,” the statement continued.

The department has not provided any additional details, but says the incident remains an active investigation.

Officers were already at the mall providing increased security during the busy holiday shopping season. No one was evacuated during the incident, and as of about 5 p.m., no additional officers appeared to be in parking lots around the mall.

Black Friday shooting

The report of gunfire Sunday comes just weeks after a shooting at The Streets of Southpoint on Black Friday that left three people shot and and at least three more injured as panicked shoppers fled the scene.

The News & Observer reported that dozens of people called 911 amid an exchange of gunfire, sparked by an attempted robbery.

Police said one of the robbery suspects, a 26-year-old man, was shot and critically injured. Two bystanders, one a 10-year-old girl, were treated and released after they were shot in the incident. Several others were hurt as a crush of people evacuated stores.

The department says anyone with information about the incident Sunday should call CrimeStoppers at (919) 683-1200.

This story was originally published December 19, 2021 at 5:03 PM.

Tyler Dukes

The News & Observer

919-696-1935

Tyler Dukes is the lead editor for AI innovation in journalism at McClatchy Media, where he leads a small team of journalists that helps the company’s 30 local newsrooms responsibly harness data, automation and artificial intelligence to elevate and strengthen their reporting. He was previously an investigative reporter at The News and Observer in Raleigh, N.C. In 2017, he completed a fellowship at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. He is a graduate of North Carolina State University and grew up in Elizabeth City, N.C.