preCharge News MARYLAND — Howard County Police are investigating after a shooting occurred outside of The Mall in Columbia on Saturday evening.

At 5:52 p.m., police responded to a report of shots being fired near the mall, at a parking lot and bus stop area outside of Lidl at 10300 Little Patuxent Parkway.

COLUMBIA: Police are on scene in the area of the Mall in Columbia for a shooting. Two are confirmed shot; no suspects in custody. This is NOT an active shooter threat, but we are asking people to avoid the area. Please call 911 with any information. Will update.

— Howard County Police Department (@HCPDNews) February 22, 2025

When police arrived, they found two young adult males inflicted with gunshot wounds. While one was transported to a hospital with critical injuries, the other was pronounced dead at the scene. Their identities have not been released.

“Very shocked to hear that, a very sad moment for around here,” said Craig Stone, a nearby resident.

Holden Rushing was working inside the mall on Saturday evening as gunfire rang out.

“Earlier we had heard like a banging noise, we didn’t really know what it was at first. But we started to hear chatters that there was a shooting,” Rushing told WJZ Reporter Ashley Paul. “They just had us close the doors inside of our store…lock the doors and there were a couple people in there. They just went to the back until we heard it was safe to go out.”

The mall did not go on lockdown and operations continued as usual.

Investigators believe there was one shooter and it was a targeted incident. There is no active shooter threat to the public, according to officials.

Detectives will interview witnesses and review nearby surveillance videos as the investigation continues.

“We are working to identify individuals that were there that perhaps may have saw something,” said Chief Gregory Der of Howard County Police Department. “We also are working with surveillance. There’re cameras all over the mall here…outside, private cameras. It takes a long time to go through the information to make sure we find exactly who did this.”

Second deadly shooting 

This is the second deadly shooting at The Mall in Columbia within a year.

Back in July, William Marshall III is seen on video shooting and killing 17-year-old, Angelo Little. No arrests have been made in that case yet.

“If you commit a crime here in Howard County, we will track you down, we will prosecute you, and we will find you. We’re using every resource that we have,” Chief Der stated.

If you have any information related to this incident, HCPD urges you to call 911.

*Editor’s Note*

A previous version of this article stated that police identified the shooter, but that is not the case. Police Chief Gregory Der was speaking on a previous case of a shooting at Columbia Mall in which the shooter was identified.

Associated Press, CBS News, Fox News, and preCharge News contributed to this report.

This is a developing news story. More information will be provided as soon as it becomes available.