Young Girl Killed in Deadly Mall Shooting. Suspects Still at Large!
A shooting erupted in a North Carolina mall last night killing one young girl and injuring two others. The gunfire broke out shortly before 9pm in the parking lot of "Dave and Busters" at the Concord Mills Mall.
Reports say that 13-year-old Avenanna Propst was pronounced dead at the scene and two other male juvenile victims were taken to the hospital. Officials said the boys, who are under the age of 16, are expected to be OK.
Concord Police reports state that the shooting started as a result of a fight and that Propst and the other two victims were not targets. They were simply at "the wrong place at the wrong time". They have released grainy surveillance footage stills showing the suspected shooter and, although these images are hard to see, someone who knows this person will recognize him.
Propst attended A.C.E Academy Public Charter School in Harrisburg, North Carolina. School leaders said she was in 8th grade and was set to graduate this year. They said this incident is devastating for their school family.
A.C.E. Academy released a statement saying:
"This is devastating for our school family and it is important that we continue to support each other.
Avenanna,13, was an 8th grader at A.C.E {ACE} Academy Public Charter School.
Avenanna was scheduled to graduate from our school this year and this is devastating to all of us. She was a popular girl in the school and the news spread quickly among our school family. She's a baby, she's 13-years-old. This is hard to process, accept, or even understand. We support our families in and out of school and anytime one of our children suffer, we all suffer. We will support Avenanna's family for as long as it takes to get through these painful, unimaginable times.
Our Student and Family Service Director was at the hospital Saturday night once we found out Avenanna was involved. It was chaotic because there were multiple shootings. We did what we could to gather information as quickly as possible. Very early on, our students were contacting their teachers with questions about the tragic incident because so much inappropriate and false information was shared on social media.
We have counseling resources and counseling professionals in place to support our 400 students, 50 staff members and all of their families. Our work began late Saturday night when the news started to circulate."
Our prayers are with this young girls family and also with the recovering victims and their families. This killer has to be caught!
The Concord Police Department continues to ask anyone with information regarding this incident to call 704-920-5000 or contact Cabarrus County Crime Stoppers at 704-93-CRIME.
