A suspect was in critically wounded and a second remained at large Sunday after a bystander was killed and six other people were injured in an attempted robbery at a mall in San Antonio, Texas, police said.
At least two of those injured were struck by gunfire, authorities said. Their injuries weren't considered life-threatening
San Antonio Police Chief William McManus described a terrifying scene in which a bystander who was simply trying to help was shot and killed, one suspect was shot and critically wounded, and a second suspect fled through Rolling Oaks Mall spraying bullets as he ran.
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"It is absolutely senseless," McManus said.
Police said the two robbers were fleeing a Kay Jewelers store in the mall in northeast San Antonio when two bystanders confronted them. One of the suspects shot one of the bystanders, who was declared dead, authorities said.
The second bystander, who was licensed to carry a concealed weapon, then shot one of the suspects. The second suspect raced away down the mall's corridors, firing his gun as he ran.
The second suspect, described as a Hispanic male wearing a hoodie and a mask, was seen leaving the mall, which police said was in no further danger.
The shootout shattered the nerves of shoppers on a busy Sunday afternoon.
"I heard several gunshots and saw people screaming and running, and I told my best friend to get down, and I was yelling at the employees of the store to get down, and we all ran to the back office to hide," Colbri Brought-Burke, 19, told NBC News by phone from inside New York & Company, a women's clothing store.
Monica Marie Carreon, 22, sheltered inside Shoe Palace with her twin 1-year-old sons and three other people, said she heard as many as 10 shots.
"We immediately heard people screaming and running inside the back of the stores, so we ran to the back of Shoe Palace," Carreon said. Officers who stopped by the store told Carreon and the others to stay in place, she said.