Close Call: Father & Son Nearly Hit With As Shoot Out Unfolds Inside A Mississippi Mall Over Some Popcorn... 16-Year-Old Girl Arrested!

A 16-year-old girl was shot and is behind bars after an incident at Northpark Mall in Ridgeland on Saturday, September 17.



Ridgeland Police Chief Brian Myers said the shooting happened around 5:20 p.m. when Za’Lill D’Chelle Patterson, 16, of Jackson, tried to shoplift from a popcorn store inside the mall. She allegedly pulled a gun on the store owner, who Myers said shot Patterson in the leg in self defense.



According to Myers, Patterson was taken to a local hospital before she was booked into the Madison County Detention Center on a charge of aggravated assault with a weapon. She will be charged as an adult. The store owner was interviewed and reportedly cooperative with police.



“This is not good. I will say that we’ve never had something like this inside the mall. We don’t want to see or allow it. We will take action,” said Myers.



“Here they come, shooting. Pow! Pow! I heard eight or nine shots because I’m a manager up here. Customers came to the back, and we let them out because we’re scared. Then, that’s when I saw it. The girl, she was laying right there. She was shot and hopped down there in front of our building. I was scared. I was scared,” said Jayce Alyse, a mall employee.



No other injuries were reported. Myers said the case will be presented to the Madison Posted by JR