NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Police have identified the suspects connected to a shooting at MacArthur Center in Norfolk that injured two people Monday evening.
A man and a woman are expected to recover after being shot inside the MacArthur Center on Monday night, the second shooting at the downtown Norfolk mall in less than a year.
Police said that both victims had non life-threatening wounds, and two male suspects fled the scene before officers arrived.
Police say they currently looking for 23-year-old Molek Alcantara and 22-year-old Daquan C. Reed. Both have been identified as the suspects connected to the shooting.
The 23-year-old man who was shot drove himself to the hospital, while the woman was found inside the mall. Police Chief Larry Boone said that the 56-year-old woman was a bystander.
Boone said that witness statements and security footage showed that the two young men pictured above were walking on the first floor of the mall when they encountered the male victim. The three exchanged words before bullets were fired.
The male victim ran into a store after being shot, while two officers (one on-duty and one off-duty) immediately responded and helped the woman.
“All of a sudden, I heard three shots. Boom, boom, boom!” said witness Clarence Neely.
The 911 call for the shooting came in at 8:23 p.m. and a lockdown was instituted while police searched the mall. The lockdown was lifted around 9:45 p.m.
A photo from a viewer shows the scene near the now vacant former Nordstrom store.
This is the second shooting at MacArthur in 2019. Four people were arrested after a shootout back in February that prosecutors said was between rival gangs.
A spokesperson for the MacArthur Center said they’re priority is the safety of all shoppers, tenants, employees. The spokesperson said that MacArthur Center’s security team is on site 24 hours a day in partnership with the Norfolk Police Department.
“We live in a very different time in which young men, the way they handle conflict is through the end of a gun,” Boone said.
Anyone with info on the shooting is asked to call the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.
This is a breaking story. Check back for updates.
