Three reported dead at Columbia, Maryland mall shooting

A SHOOTING in a US shopping mall on Saturday moing has left at least three people dead, according to a local police department's Twitter account.

Gunfire is said to have erupted in the Columbia, Maryland mall, CNN reports.

The Howard County Police Department alerted their Twitter followers to an active shooter situation after a call was made to emergency services at 11.15am.

Authorities initially said an active shooter was on the second floor of the vast Columbia Mall and images from Twitter showed employees and customers hiding in a stock room.

There has been a shooting incident at the Columbia mall. No additional details yet. PIO en route. Will update ASAP. — Howard County Police (@HCPDNews) January 25, 2014

Another Twitter image claiming to be from the scene showed multiple bullet holes in a wall.

An image posted online claimed to show a bullet-riddled wall at Columbia Mall. Picture: Twitter.com Source:

A helicopter is seen hovering above Columbia Mall, the scene of a shooting. Picture: Twitter.com

Police later reported the mall had been secured and that one of the three was the suspected shooter. "One subject was located near a gun and ammunition and is believed to have likely been the shooter," police said in a statement. "There have been no reports of any shots fired since the body was discovered."

The mall was closed to the public, with police estimating it would take several hours to "clear [people] in a safe and orderly fashion."

Ed Main was shopping at the Justice store with his son Noah, 15, his daughter Tori, 12, and his niece Ana Collins, 18, when they heard two loud pops, USA Today reports. Mr Main said they were hustled by an employee into a storeroom in the back of the store, who then "shut the door and barricaded it from the inside."

Mall employee Laura McKinzles said she heard between eight and 10 shots, followed by people running and screaming. She told USA Today she ran into the backroom of a perfume store and locked the door.

One woman said she heard what sounded like "something being dropped" and then realised the sound was gunshots, NBC reports.

"They just kept shooting and it didn't stop," she said.

Columbia Mall, photographed in post-Christmas sales. News reports said the mall was on "lockdown" because of an "active shooter situation." Picture: Jewel Samad

She rescued one child and then ran back to her job, at a children's hair salon, to secure the others.

"I work in Cartoon Cuts; I was downstairs getting a tea for my boss," she said. "And all of a sudden I heard ... it sounded like someone dropped something. And all of a sudden I see people fall, three people fall to the ground. And all I see is people going down to the floor and running."

"I just saw everybody run, so I ran."

Another eyewitness, a young woman, said: "We just heard gunshots, and then this lady came into the store and said there's a guy with a gun. ... Me and my friend just ran in the back room.

"We were crying and we were just scared out of our minds, because our thought was that we were going to get shot."

Three people confirmed dead at Columbia Mall. Victims unknown at this time. — Howard County Police (@HCPDNews) January 25, 2014

One deceased subject located near gun and ammunition. ID unknown. — Howard County Police (@HCPDNews) January 25, 2014