Teens Killed at Greenbriar Mall

Today, from CBS46 in Atlanta:

ATLANTA -- Gunfire rang out in the holiday shopping season at an Atlanta area mall Saturday afternoon and sent two people to the hospital.

The shooting happened inside Greenbriar Mall in southwest Atlanta where shoppers ran for cover fearing for their safety.

Police said three or four shots were fired and when the gunfire ended, two people were injured with wounds to their legs.

The unidentified victims are described as a black male and female in their late teens.

They were taken by ambulance to Grady Memorial Hospital.

“I think that's very tragic. It's a tragic circumstance and hopefully they'll find out who it was that did it and bring that person to justice,” said shopper D'Andre Green.

Police said the victims knew the gunman and believe it's a domestic incident and at the time of the accident there were about six or seven officers on the premises.

According to the general manager there were additional officers posted, including bike units, because of the holiday shopping. He say this shooting happened despite security presence.

“It's very hard to defend against those kinds of random acts of violence,” said Mike Weinberger.

Stories like these, which seem so common, remind us that domestic violence is not just a family matter, but instead spills out into the greater community in some very dangerous ways. In fact, at our candlelight vigil in October, we read the names of 7 innocent bystanders - family members, friends or strangers - who were killed in the previous year in the state of Georgia during domestic violence homicides. This number does not include the 5 children of victims and/or perpetrators who were also killed.