An Atlantic City man was fatally shot and his brother was wounded in the parking lot of a New Jersey mall – one of at least two fatal Black Friday-related shootings nationwide, officials said.
In Reno, Nev., a Walmart customer was gunned down during a fight over a parking spot just after doors were opened Thursday night.
And in Tennessee, a person also was shot Thursday at a Memphis mall while shoppers were taking part in early Black Friday sales.
The Jersey shooting took place about 1 a.m. outside a Macy’s department store at the Hamilton Mall in the Mays Landing section of Hamilton, Atlantic County Prosecutor Diane Ruberton said.
The dead man, who was shot multiple times, was pronounced dead at the scene. His 26-year-old brother, from Clayton, was shot in the leg and listed in stable condition at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center.
Officials didn’t immediately say what sparked the shooting, which occurred as people were lined up outside the mall, or if they had any suspects.
More than 15 evidence markers were laid down in the parking lot and a bullet-riddled SUV was towed away around 7 a.m. Friday.
The Macy’s, which was open from 7 p.m. to midnight Thursday, reopened at 6 a.m. for Black Friday bargain-hunters.
“It’s sad,” one shopper said at the scene. “We’ve been doing this, me and my girls, for probably about 10 years now, just for the fun of going out — a girls’ night and trying to get some special sales and it’s getting scary now.”
Another shopper told CBS the shooting was a “tragedy.”
“It’s very scary, you know, you’re starting off the holiday season and you’re excited about the upcoming times with family and now there’s going to be family who are missing people and their holidays will never be the same,” the shopper said.
In Reno, the fatal shooting began as a road rage incident Thanksgiving evening at a Walmart on East Second Street, KOLO-TV reported.
Police are asking for the public’s help to locate a dark-colored Toyota or Corolla driven by a light-skinned black male, police spokesman Lt. Scott Shaw told the station.
In Memphis, three people were in custody after a person was shot about 11:15 p.m. Thursday outside the Wolfchase Galleria Mall while early shoppers showed up, WREG-TV in Memphis reported.
Witnesses told the station that the shooter drove off in a red Ford Mustang after the incident near a food court. The victim showed up later with a gunshot wound at Baptist memorial Hospital.
There have been seven deaths and 98 injuries across the country during Black Friday shopping between 2006 and 2014, according to blackfridaydeathcount.com.
Black Friday violence also struck in England, where a police officer in Leeds was attacked Friday morning when the assailant took offense when the cop asked him what he was doing, the Express of the UK reported.
Meanwhile, things were more orderly in the Big Apple, where rabid sales-seekers were in action.
In Brooklyn, Rosie Smith, 53, arrived around 7:30 a.m. to head into Target.
“Two TVs!” she exclaimed proudly, holding up her shopping bags containing Polaroid flat screens that costs her $85 apiece.
“Actually they’re for my basement,” the self-professed reality TV fan said. “I like ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta.’”
Tracy Yu, 25, spent about $400 on UNIQLO Heattech tops.
“It’s usually way more expensive,” said Yu, who had four bags stuffed with the garments as gifts for family. “It’s for multiple people, that’s why there are so many.”
Abigail Gepner contributed reporting.
With Post Wires