Customers scrambled for safety after a shootout at the Food Lion in North Whiteville injured one man Wednesday.
Lamonte Pridgen, 18, was struck twice in the back, Det. S. Moody of the Whiteville Police said. He is in stable condition in an area hospital.
Police were called to the shopping center at 5:48 p.m., Moody said. Witnesses saw a dark colored vehicle and a white car leaving the scene immediately after the fusillade rang out in the parking lot.
Security cameras showed the incident, Moody said, but did not provide enough detail to identify the suspects or victims. Six shell casings were discovered in the area.
Moody said that a short time later, Columbus County 911 received a call about a man who had been shot and was en route to the hospital from Blacksmith Road in Bolton. Pridgen was transferred to an ambulance from a private vehicle, and taken to Columbus Regional. He was later transferred to New Hanover.
After he was interviewed by county investigators, the case was turned over to the city since the incident occurred in Whiteville. Pridgen told investigators he did not know who shot him, or why.
Social media lit up with the shooting shortly after it was reported. A number of area residents posted on Facebook that they heard the gunfire and hid in their vehicles or the store when the shots were fired. No other injuries were reported.
Pridgen is reportedly from the Bolton area.
The shooting is under investigation by the WPD.
