RALEIGH, N.C. — A midday shooting at Raleigh’s busy North Hills shopping center left one person dead and two wounded and put at least four area schools on lockdown. It drew a massive police presence to the midtown center.
Once officers arrived, they found three men who’d been shot, one of whom had died. Another was expected to be OK. Police said the third, the suspected shooter, was in critical condition because of a self-inflicted gunshot, Raleigh Police Department said.
Multiple agencies responded to Coquette restaurant after calls reporting the shooting just before 11 a.m., according to a release from police.
Initial investigations led police to believe the man shot and killed one man and injured another before turning the gun on himself. Police did not confirm whether victims or suspect worked at the restaurant, but police said they knew each other and it was not a random act.
Lori Jones was an employee of Coquette in 2008. Jones said she was doing some remote work at the nearby Panera Bread restaurant when she learned of the shooting.
“I started getting phone calls while I was in there. I started seeing police cars kind of going by. And after, like the sixth or seventh phone call, I was like, OK, let me answer and see what’s going on,” Jones said.
Jones, who grew up in the area, said her parents called her. “My parents were like, ‘You know there’s an active shooter?’ And I’m like, ‘No, no, no, there’s not.’ I open up the internet and yeah, there’s an active shooter and I’m, like, there’s no way,” she said.
Jones had an electric vehicle charging in the parking lot of the North Hills Shopping Plaza.
At least four Wake County schools in the area were on lockdown midday Friday. (Spectrum News 1)
“Very upscale, very nice restaurant, right? It’s North Hills,” Jones said. “I just I’m very intentional about where I pay to go and spend my time, right. For safety and everything else. And I understand that things can happen anywhere, but here is just kind of shocking.”
Police announced about 11:15 a.m. that it was not an active shooting but advised the public to avoid the area. Several roads around North Hills, including Six Forks Road, were closed for the investigation, but most had reopened by afternoon.
At least four Wake County schools in the area were put on lockdown: Carroll Magnet Middle, Douglas Magnet Elementary, Brooks Museums Magnet Elementary and Root Elementary. The lockdowns were lifted by 12:15 p.m., but access to North Hills Mall remained restricted as investigators continued to work.