Mall Parking Lot Shooting: Police Searching For Atlanta Man Who Shot Woman, Fired At Bystander

A mall parking lot shooting in Atlanta ended with a woman in the hospital and police desperately searching for the man they believe is responsible.

The shooting took place Monday outside Cumberland Mall in northwest Atlanta. Police said a man and a woman were having a fight when the man shot the woman and then fired at a bystander who tried to intervene and help the woman. The suspect then shot the woman again, Cobb County police said.

Police added that the mall was busy when the parking lot shooting took place, and that the bullet intended for the bystander ended up hitting the wall of a department store.

Shopper in the mall were forced to remain inside as police investigated the parking lot shooting and searched for the suspect. The situation left many of them on edge.

“Shootings are going in the schools, they’re going on in churches and they’re going on in shopping centers,” said Bobbe Pharr, who did not see the shooting but was stuck inside the mall afterward. “It’s crazy. It’s not even safe to hardly get out and do anything anymore.”

Witnesses said the suspect got into the passenger seat of a white van and fled the scene, and police are trying to investigate whether the man climbed into the driver’s seat or may have had help fleeing the scene.

This was not the first parking lot shooting at the Cumberland Mall. On Black Friday in 2011, shopper George Tabetando was shot and killed in the parking lot. Rosano Wensely Bundel was later convicted of the killing and sentenced to life in prison.

In 2009, another mall parking lot shooting saw a jewelery store manager shot multiple times as he got into his car.

The suspect in Monday’s mall parking lot shooting is described as a heavyset black man in his 50s, and was last seen wearing glasses, a gray shirt, and a blue hat.