DANVILLE, Va. – The Danville community is still reeling after a shooting at the Danville Mall Saturday night.
Police say that suspect Christian Isaiah Pinkney is still at large, and is believed to have shot and killed 26-year-old Tyshais King.
The shooting took place inside Hibbett Sports around 7:15 p.m..
King later died from his injuries at the hospital.
Danville Police Major Chris Wiles says this is an isolated incident.
“We do know that those individuals knew each other,” Wiles said. “They had contact within the store, and it escalated very quickly.”
Police returned to the mall Sunday for a H.E.A.R.T. walk, which stands for Heal, Engage After Recent Trauma.
“We’ve found that to be incredibly impactful,” Wiles said. “Any time a traumatic event occurs, as quickly as we can we come back into that community with our officers and with our partners.”
Wiles commended the job done by retailers.
“They pulled down their gates, moved their people to the back, which enabled him and his team to very quickly sweep, make sure the suspect wasn’t still here, and make sure the patrons and employees were all safe,” he said.
Danni Gammon was working at the mall just hours before the shooting.
“I could have been here, that could have been me,” Gammon said. “You never really know what’s going to happen. You never know. I could go to work today, and it could happen again.”
She hopes the stores take action to train their employees.
“I hope at work that we do have a conversation about it,” Gammon said. “And like I said, more safety precautions, and kind of make a game plan for what if it happens again.”
Customer Aliyah Perez was also there right before and wants to see change in Danville.
“You hear so many stories of just petty arguments ending up in someone getting shot or someone getting killed for just little trivial things that you could just walk away from,” Perez said.
Perez thinks this violence could have been avoided.
“A lot of people let their pride get the best of them and they think hurting someone gives them the one up and it’s not necessary,” she said.
If you have any information on the incident or the whereabouts of Pinckney, you are asked to call Danville police immediately.
