NorthJersey JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Two people were shot at a New Jersey mall Friday night and two more were in custody in a possible act of gang-related violence, officials said. The shooting occurred at around 6 p.m. at the Newport Centre mall in Jersey City. The two victims were taken to a local hospital with gunshot wounds to the abdomen and arm, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop said during a news conference. No "friendly person" was struck by gunfire, Police Chief Michael Kelly said. Authorities did not confirm whether one of the people in custody was the shooter. Witnesses said the shooting was in the food court on the third floor of the mall. Scott Fallon, a reporter for NorthJersey.com and the USA TODAY Network, had taken the day off and was at the mall with his wife, Dawn, and daughter, Emma, when the shooting occurred. To celebrate Emma's 6th birthday, the family had attended a screening of “A Dog’s Way Home” in the movie theater, which shares space with the food court on the mall’s third level, when he heard gunfire. “I heard a thump,” he said. “It may have been just one shot. I heard screaming and then an avalanche of people started running from the food court.” Fallon had been on his way to the men’s room. “I immediately turned and ran like hell back to where Dawn and Emma were,” he said. “I said, ‘There’s been a shooting.’ I grabbed Emma, held her in my arms and we ran through some exit doors into a hallway behind the theaters.” They huddled there with a scared Swedish tourist named Ali who had become separated from his friends in the panic that erupted after the shooting, Fallon said, called the police and 911 and waited for authorities to arrive. After about 20 minutes, he said, he heard footsteps and the sounds from police radios in a service stairwell off the hallway. “I knew it was the police, but I was afraid,” he said. “I didn’t want to startle them. I told Ali, ‘Get your hands up.’ I told Dawn to move out of the shadow where she was holding Emma at the time. ‘Move into the light.’ I took my hands out and I yelled through the door, ‘There’s civilians here!’ and they said, ‘Open the door.’ “I opened the door slowly,” he said. “They had their guns drawn. They came in, they knew we weren’t a threat, and they escorted us down the stairwell with their guns drawn.” They emerged into the frigid January cold with a large crowd of people who also had been evacuated from the mall. “People were on their cellphones,” he said. “I thought people would be more panicked. I thought people wouldn’t be around the entrance. I wanted to get as far away as possible from there. I’m actually still feeling uneasy being a block or two away.” Jersey City police referred questions to spokeswoman Ashley Manz. A message left for Manz was not immediately returned. A message left for a Hudson County Prosecutor's Office spokesman was also not returned. Adnane Jaballah of Jersey City said he heard the shooting. "From nowhere we start hearing shots," Jaballah said. "It was like four or five shots. Everybody go down and people surrounding everywhere, everybody throwing everything." Video posted to social media shows people rushing out of the door of the mall near the Zinburger. The mall is a three-level, 1.2 million square-foot building near the PATH station that attracts 13 million shoppers annually, according to its website.<doc-sep>JERSEY CITY — Two men are in critical condition on Friday night following a shooting at the Newport Centre mall food court that sent panicked shoppers fleeing. Friday’s violence comes two days after a daytime shooting in another Jersey City neighborhood that led to lockdowns at three schools, including a pre-k. The two shootings are related, with a victim of the mall shooting wanted for attempted murder in connection to Wednesday’s violence, city officials said Friday. The officials described Friday’s episode during a hastily called press conference outside the mall’s McDonald’s as shoppers remained trapped inside stores and cops searched the mall for shooters. A fistfight at about 6 p.m. on the mall’s third floor ended with gunfire, according to Mayor Steve Fulop. Police Chief Michael Kelly said he would not “speculate” about the number of shooters. The two victims, one wounded in the stomach and the other in his arm, are being treated at Jersey City Medical Center, Fulop said. One of them, Jalil Holmes, is suspected of involvement in Wednesday’s lunchtime shooting on Grant Avenue that left two hurt and nearby schools locked down, he said. Holmes is the man wanted for attempted murder in connection to that incident, he added. Kelly said it is a “possibility” the shootings are related to ongoing gang violence. Police do not know if the shooter is in custody, he said. “We do have two people in custody. We do not know if we have the shooter that started the incident,” Kelly said. As members of the media asked Fulop and Kelly questions about the shooting, cops with assault rifles entered nearby and proceeded to walk into the mall. Priscilla Casco, 36, is a manager at The Children’s Place, located on the mall’s ground floor. When gunfire broke out, employees closed the gate and moved all the customers to the back of the store. They hid there for about 10 minutes until officers told them they had to leave the building. Aside from a few random incidents, Casco said, she does not find the mall to be a dangerous place. “Outside of this, it’s usually pretty safe," she said. There is extensive video footage of the violence that police will be reviewing, Public Safety Director James Shea said. Kelly said both victims are known to police and anyone else involved was “certainly not somebody that’s here to shop.” “We have no friendly person who was struck by gunfire," he said. The mall remained shut down for at long as two hours after the shooting, with a massive police presence outside and shoppers still forced to remain inside. An earlier version of this story should have spelled one of the victim’s names as Jalil Holmes. Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.<doc-sep>I DARE SOMEONE TO TELL ME ITS TOO SOON TO TALK ABOUT IT. SCREAMING AND CRYING PEOPLE. INJURY AND DEATH. HYSTERIA AND GRIEF. THIS IS WHAT GUN VIOLENCE BRINGS. pic.twitter.com/gA2pbGD5ay — Jai (@lifeofjai) January 12, 2019 JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (WABC) -- A mall in New Jersey re-opened Saturday after two people were shot.The shooting happened around 6:00 p.m. Friday inside the food court at the Newport Centre Mall in Jersey City.One victim was shot in the stomach and another one was shot in the arm. The victims are in critical, but stable condition at Jersey City Medical Center. The victims walked into a hospital separately on their own.The Jersey City Police Department evacuated the mall quickly. It is unclear whether the shooter has been apprehended, or if he is one of the victims. Police are currently looking at surveillance to determine what happened.Many people reportedly ran into stores for cover. No one else was injured.The motive of the shooting is unclear, but officials are looking into whether it was gang-related.Officials are not saying if a weapon was recovered or how many shots were fired.The mall was scheduled to reopen at 1:00 p.m. Saturday.The shooting prompted Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop to call for changes in federal gun laws.He said Saturday that "Years ago, a fistfight at the mall was a fistfight at the mall" without fear of someone carrying an illegal gun.----------<doc-sep>
Two men were in critical condition Friday and two others were apprehended by police after what authorities said was likely a gang-related shooting at the Newport Centre Mall in Jersey City, N.J., reports said. One of the injured men, identified as Jaleel Holmes, was wanted for attempted murder in connection with a Wednesday shooting elsewhere in Jersey City, NJ.com reported. Friday's outburst began with a fistfight around 6 p.m. on the mall's third floor, Mayor Steve Fulop said, according to the report. 'MALL BRAWL' INVOLVING HUNDREDS OF YOUTHS YIELDS 4 ARRESTS: 3 ARRESTS AND 1 TEEN, POLICE SAY Police Chief Michael Kelly told the Record of Bergen County that no "friendly person" had been wounded in the shooting spree. "We know some of the players here, we know some of the victims," the chief told the newspaper, "and we certainly think that they weren’t up to anything good." CRAZY VIDEO: AN EASTER BUNNY BRAWLED WITH SHOPPERS IN THE MIDDLE OF A NJ MALL A victim on the top floor of the mall's parking garage suffered a gunshot wound to an arm but was expected to survive, Tribune Media Wire reported. A second victim walked into a local hospital with a gunshot wound to the stomach, the report said. It was unclear which victim was Holmes. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Chief Kelly said it's a "possibility" that the shootings are related to ongoing gang violence, the report said. “We do have two people in custody. We do not know if we have the shooter that started the incident,” Kelly said. It was not immediately known if there were any other victims.