1 killed in shooting at Florida shopping mall

Washington, Dec 24: A man died and a woman was injured after a shooting inside a central Florida shopping mall on Saturday, according to local police.

The authorities indicated that the victim was deliberately singled out in the attack.

Ocala Police Chief Mike Balken said that police received 911 calls about multiple shots fired inside the Paddock Mall. He added the call came in describing an "active shooter" scenario, so they responded with a heavy police presence, CNN reported.

"Officers immediately made entry into the mall and ultimately discovered this was not an active shooter situation," Balken said.

Police instead characterized the shooting incident as a targeted act of violence, he said.

Paddock Mall in Ocala was evacuated and there is no longer a threat, police said in a Facebook post.

The Police chief confirmed one adult male was found dead inside the mall from gunshot wounds. Balken said one woman suffered a gunshot wound to her leg. He said she was transported to a hospital, adding she is expected to survive.

Police are still searching for the suspect, who was described as a Black male wearing a black hoodie, black pants and a black mask over his face, Balken was quoted as saying by CNN.

"Please avoid the area as police investigate," officials said in the Facebook post. In a tweet after the news conference, the Ocala Police Department in a post on X said that they are conducting a "secondary sweep" of the mall Saturday evening.