Everyone knows that Black Friday is one of the busiest, and most dangerous, shopping days of the year, but it’s unfortunate to think that simply going out to the mall could potentially cost you your life. On November 23, Black Friday, a man was shot in Jersey Gardens Mall in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Two shots were fired and the victim was shot in the wrist while walking through a hallway between Tommy Hilfiger and Marshalls at about 8pm. Immediately chaos ensued as the estimated 25,000 people in the mall attempted to evacuate. Carli Disla, 22, who was at the mall at the time of the shooting, reports seeing people running past the store she was in and yelling “Hide, everyone, hide! They are shooting!””It was a horrible experience and very traumatizing.”  The mall was temporarily put on lockdown, but at about 8:40pm it was being evacuated. Despite how frantic the situation was, no one was in danger.

The victim was quickly transported to University Hospital and fortunately his injuries weren’t life threatening, but the victim refuses to cooperate with police to identify the suspect. Many people believe this was a targeted attack, which would explain why there was only one victim despite how crowded the mall was. It would also explain why the victim refuses to cooperate if this attack was some sort of revenge or even gang violence. Anyone who has information about the gunman is urged to report it to Elizabeth police by calling 908-558-2111.

(Elizabeth, NJ) Report of Shots Fired in Mall — Developing: The Mills at Jersey Gardens mall was evacuated after reports of shots fired. Follow here: https://t.co/qBZ7RsTFoq. #CitizenApp #ProtectTheWorld pic.twitter.com/SIMvhwkSbX

— Citizen New Jersey (@CitizenAppNJ) November 24, 2018