Shoppers run after Fashion Fair mall shooting. Victim fled the scene, Fresno police say

A shooting Saturday evening at Fashion Fair mall led to an evacuation, and a potential key witness to it all fled the scene.

Fresno Police say that like a shooting at the mall in January, a confrontation apparently escalated to shots fired. The suspected shooter was not located.

Saturday, three men were exiting the main part of the mall when they were approached by another group of four men, Fresno Police Lt. Stephen Viveros said. All of the men were between the ages of 18 to 25, witnesses reported to police.

A fight ensued in the area near the Shoe Palace, Lush, Sephora and Morphe stores and water fountain display, police said.

The shooting occurred shortly after, with police receiving calls of shots fired at the mall around 7 p.m. Police said one of the young men from the group that was leaving the mall pulled out a handgun and fired multiple rounds at the other group that had approached them.

“Appears to be gang-related,” Viveros said.

Shoppers and employees, meanwhile, evacuated the mall, and 42 police officers arrived shortly after to the scene.

It is unclear exactly how many gunshot rounds were fired, but a few people at the mall said they heard between three to 10 shots.

Viveros said an off-duty officer happened to be at the mall and noticed a person who appeared to be injured and possibly shot.

When the off-duty cop approached the victim and identified himself as a police officer, the subject ran away and has yet to be found, Viveros said.

“We can’t find him,” Viveros said. “We’re checking local hospitals. ...

“We don’t know if he was in fact shot.”

Though police initially thought there were at least two victims from the shooting, their investigation has now led them to believe there was only the one victim, who fled the scene.

Viveros said no other people were injured during the mad rush to exit the mall.

“Very fortunate,” Viveros said.

The suspect group that fired the shots fled northbound through a courtyard area and entered a light-colored, four-door vehicle, Viveros said.

It was not immediately know what direction or how the other group fled the scene.

Police said there did not appear to be any signs of blood at the scene. As of Sunday morning, the victim hadn’t showed up at the hospital and it is unknown if shell casings were found, Lt. Charlie Chamalbide said.

Hearing gunshots, seeking shelter

Hank Knevelbaard said he was inside the mall when he heard at least three shots.

“It sounded like it was over the loudspeaker,” Knevelbaard said.

That’s when several people started running out the mall doors, including Knevelbaard.

“Some people were crying,” Knevelbaard said. “Everyone was just running, just dropped everything and ran. I saw tables with cellphones on them because everyone just ran out.”

Moments after shots were fired, Christina Flores said she received a call from her daughter to pick her up after she heard gunfire, too.

Flores said her daughter hid inside an employee restroom at Sephora after hearing 10 shots fired and several screams.

“I’m shook up,” Flores said. “My daughter could’ve been killed today at the mall.”

Chief: ‘That is unacceptable’

Police Chief Paco Balderrama said the department planned to release surveillance images Sunday.

“Very quickly we were able to pull video and we do have pictures matching the suspect vehicle,” he said.

Balderrama praised his officers for showing up “within minutes.”

Still, he was upset that a shooting happened at the mall.

“Very scary and dangerous situation,” he said. “This is something that is aggravating for everybody. You should be able to go to the mall on a Saturday afternoon and not have to worry about a shooting. That is unacceptable and it is simply unacceptable, but our police responded quickly.”

Shooting at mall in January

This is the second shooting at Fashion Fair in just this year alone.

Back in January, a shooting occurred inside the mall following a confrontation between a man and a group of men. A 17-year-old was later arrested for allegedly firing multiple rounds in the mall.

This story was originally published April 17, 2021 at 7:42 PM.