For the second time in a week, gunfire erupted at a metro Atlanta mall filled with holiday shoppers.
A Macy’s employee was shot in the stomach Saturday afternoon after refusing to hand over her keys during an attempted carjacking in the Lenox Square parking deck, Atlanta police said.
The attempted robbery occurred about 12:15 p.m. when the employee was approached by two young men as she walked to her car on the first floor of the garage, Atlanta police spokesman Carlos Campos said.
Credit: Atlanta Police Department
Credit: Atlanta Police Department
The victim was treated at the hospital and released Saturday evening. No further details were immediately available about her condition or injury. As of Saturday evening, police were still trying to track down the suspects who shot her.
“This robbery attempt in broad daylight, at the height of the holiday shopping season when APD and the mall have increased security at and around (Lenox Square), is an appalling and brazen criminal act that will be dealt with swiftly,” Campos said.
The suspects fled the parking garage on foot following the botched carjacking, police said. They were last seen running toward Lenox Road, possibly to the MARTA station.
Last Saturday, holiday shoppers in Cobb County scrambled for cover as shots rang out in the Cumberland Mall food court.
RELATED: 'Pure pandemonium': 1 injured, suspect at large after shooting at Cumberland Mall
Cobb police said that shooting, which left an 18-year-old injured, began as a verbal altercation between two people.
Several shoppers suffered panic attacks as terrified customers hid in restrooms and at the back of stores until police determined the shooting was an “isolated incident” and not an active shooter situation.
Two Marietta men — Zaire Dhanoolal, 18, and Joweer Ponce, 19 — were arrested the following day in connection with the incident.
Credit: Cobb County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Cobb County Sheriff's Office
MORE: 2 teens arrested in connection with shooting at Cumberland Mall
It’s unclear how many people witnessed Saturday’s shooting in the Lenox parking deck, but authorities said the scene wasn’t nearly as chaotic as last week’s because there weren’t as many shoppers around.
“It was not inside the mall so there wasn’t that kind of panic that you saw at last week’s shooting,” Campos said. “This was a lot more isolated.”
Still, police said they were appalled by the brazenness of the robbery suspects given the increased number of officers stationed at the mall.
When reached Saturday afternoon, a spokeswoman for Lenox Square referred all questions to Atlanta police.
Anyone with information on the shooting suspects or their whereabouts is asked to call 911.
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