Two Shot, One Dead in ‘Targeted’ Shooting At Paddock Mall in Florida, Suspect Still At Large

One person is dead and another has been shot in an Ocala, Florida shooting at a mall packed with Christmas shoppers, police said on Saturday.

The shooter opened fire at Paddock Mall in Ocala on Saturday afternoon as shopper were taking advantage of last-minute sales and finishing Christmas shopping. The mall has been evacuated and police say there is no immediate threat in the area as the shooter fled the scene.

Ocala police chief Mike Balken, speaking to reporters Saturday evening, said “It’s the worst, the worst thing we can imagine right now at this time of the year.”

“Right now, somebody suffered a loss in their family. It’s a horrible time of year for this to happen ever, that’s, especially sad during the holidays. What I will say, you know, our hearts and prayers go out to the folks that had to witness this, to the families of the survivors out there, the young man that lost his life,” said Balken.

He also appealed to the public to come forward with any information.

“I would ask this in closing. There’s there’s a lot of people here shopping at the mall, which means there’s a lot of witnesses that potentially help us bring this case to a successful resolution. Those people are out there right now. With that information, please come forward,” said Chief Balken. “Don’t be shy. We need you to call us 369-7000 or you call Crimestoppers. Give us that information confidentially.”

Ocala police released an updated statement on the shooting Saturday afternoon.

This afternoon at around 3:40 p.m., OPD received a call in regarding a shooting at the Paddock mall with multiple shots fired.

It came over the dispatch radio as an active shooter situation and we responded with a heavy police presence and entered into the building to eliminate the threat.

We discovered that there was no active shooter but that a shooting did occur in the mall.

One adult male was found deceased in a common area, and one woman was taken to the hospital and is being treated for non life threatening injuries.

We believe the shooter fled the area and is at large.

We also believe this shooting may have been targeted.

Right now we are conducting a secondary sweep of the mall and are investigating this shooting.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

Watch the clip above via WKMG 6 Orlando.