Police investigating shooting at shopping center - NBC12.com - Richmond, VA News

Police are investigating an early morning shooting that sent one man to the hospital. This happened in the parking lot of the Circle Shopping Center off Belt Boulevard.

Police say two people were parked in a car around 1 o'clock this morning. Police don't know what the two were doing there, but another car later pulled up and started to shoot.

Jennifer Dixon runs Divine House of Beauty just feet from where this shooting took place.

"It was kind of a shock to me that the police tape was there," Dixon said. "This company has been here for three years and we haven't had any activities like this before."

Investigators say one man was hit in the leg.

Police say after the shooting, the two people that were shot at drove about half a mile down the road to Second Precinct Headquarters for help.

The injured man has been taken to VCU Medical Center and is expected to survive.

Jeff Talley has lived in this area for nearly six years. He walked by the scene Thursday morning on his way to the store. He says he's didn't think someone would be bold enough to do something like this so close to a police precinct.

"The police are so present around here I can't understand," Talley said. "I mean the police ride around here all the time. A lot of them. I don't understand how stuff like this can happen."

Most stores close here around 9 o'clock at night. While there may be a lot of shoppers here during the day, people around here say there probably weren't too many witnesses that could have seen what happened so early in the morning.

"When it gets to 9 o'clock at night, the plaza is totally empty," Dixon said. "No cars in here. So for an incident like that, it's kind of surprising."

So far police have not said what the motive might have been in this shooting. A description of the suspect also has not been released yet. 

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