A confrontation between two groups inside a shopping mall food court turned deadly on Thursday when gunfire erupted at the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge, killing one person and wounding five others. Police Chief TJ Morse said officers received calls reporting shots fired at around 1:22 p.m., and video surveillance confirmed that the two groups had been arguing before opening fire on one another. Five people were subsequently taken into custody, and authorities from multiple agencies — including the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) — are assisting in the investigation.

The shooting sent shoppers and mall workers scrambling for safety. Kennedy Barnum, 22, said she had arrived at the food court for lunch when she overheard someone outside announce there was an active shooter inside. Within minutes, law enforcement had swarmed the complex. Desire Batton, a clothing store employee, said she and her colleagues ran to a back room and sheltered there until police escorted them out. Eyewitness Stanley Jackson, a FedEx employee who was on the mall's second level, described hearing several guns discharge and seeing four people on the ground bleeding as crowds fled in panic. By late afternoon, dozens of police vehicles remained clustered in the parking lot while helicopters circled overhead.

Authorities initially reported as many as ten injured but revised the figure to five several hours after the shooting. At least two of the wounded required surgery. The identity of the person killed was not immediately released. Baton Rouge Mayor Sid Edwards was unequivocal in his message to those responsible: