Police name suspects in Black Friday shooting, other incidents at Southpoint mall
Durham police have identified suspects in three gun-related incidents at The Streets at Southpoint mall, including the Black Friday shooting that panicked crowds on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
The suspects include a Virginia man wanted in the Nov. 26 incident who faces a charge of carrying a concealed weapon, police stated in a news release Thursday. The suspect, Jaquaay Walton, 31, remains at large.
Three people, including a 10-year-old child, suffered non-fatal gunshot wounds in that incident, and three more were injured in the aftermath.
Earlier this month, police said the shooting occurred when two men approached a kiosk on the mall’s second floor and tried to rob a man selling jewelry.
Police clarified that Walton is not one of the men who approached the jewelry kiosk, whom police had earlier released images of and asked the public to help identify. Police did not say if Walton was otherwise involved in the attempted robbery.
Charges against more people are expected as police continue to investigate the Nov. 26 shooting, the release stated.
Suspects in fight in mall’s food court
Police also named three suspects in an altercation between two groups in the mall’s food court on Dec. 8, which resulted in one man being assaulted and a handgun and wallet being stolen.
Elijah Sauls, 20, of Durham, has been accused of carrying a concealed weapon, while Messiah Whitted, 19, also of Durham, has been accused of disorderly conduct by fighting.
A third individual, a juvenile, has also been accused of disorderly conduct by fighting, police said.
None of the three individuals has been arrested yet, police said, adding that others involved in the incident have been identified and additional charges are possible.
Suspects sought in parking lot incident
Police are also seeking two people in a third incident on Sunday, when officers responded to a report of a suspicious person with a weapon in the mall’s parking lot.
One of those people, a 20-year-old Greensboro man named Isaiah Hargro-Burnette, is accused of “going armed to the terror of the public,” and felony carrying a concealed gun, police stated in a news release.
Hargro-Burnette has not been arrested yet, police said.
Police are also looking for a man seen in security camera footage wearing a black sweatshirt and jeans, who hasn’t yet been identified.
The man may have been driving a white Jeep on the afternoon of Dec. 19, police said, when officers responded to the parking lot.
After arriving, officers received a report that shots had been fired, police said previously, adding that officers hadn’t heard any gunshots being fired.
No injuries were reported in the incident, which police have said did not appear to be random.
Police asked anyone with information on Hargro-Burnette’s whereabouts, or the second man they are seeking, to contact investigators at 919-560-4440, ext. 29414, or Durham CrimeStoppers at 919-683-1200.
Mall’s response to recent gun-related incidents
Thursday’s updates from Durham police came days after the mall announced that a gun-sniffing security dog would patrol the mall’s common areas and entrances.
Lindsay Kahn, a spokesperson for the mall’s owner, Brookfield Properties, told The News & Observer this week that the mall’s management decided to add the canine as an additional security measure after the Nov. 26 shooting.
The dog, a German shepherd named Cigan, is now patrolling the mall with its handler, one of the mall’s security guards, after undergoing several months of training at a facility operated by Southern Coast K9, a Florida-based canine security company, the N&O reported.
Asked how else the mall is responding after the recent incidents, Kahn said the mall generally does not discuss its security protocols publicly.
Patrick Anderson, the mall’s senior general manager, told The N&O this week that management continues to work closely with local law enforcement, resulting in an increased presence of police officers and sheriff’s deputies at the mall.
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This story was originally published December 23, 2021 at 2:51 PM.
