Concord Mills mall says fight started inside before 13-year-old girl was shot to death

Two days after a 13-year-old girl was shot and killed in the Concord Mills parking lot, a representative of the mall’s owner said the violence started as a “dispute” inside one of the businesses.

“We are working closely with Dave & Buster’s and the Concord Police Department to further understand the nature of the dispute that took place inside Dave & Buster’s space, which ultimately escalated outside of their entrance,” Concord Mills said in a statement issued late Monday afternoon. The mall is owned by Simon Properties.

Aveanna Propst of Concord was shot and killed in the parking lot outside Dave & Buster’s Saturday night. Two boys, ages 15 and 16, were also shot and have non-life threatening injuries, police said. Aveanna died at the scene, and the boys were taken to Atrium Health’s CMC Main hospital, police said.

A person who answered the phone at Dave & Buster’s at Concord refused to answer questions from the Observer Monday and referred questions to its corporate office. The Observer was unable to reach the restaurant and entertainment chain’s corporate offices late Monday.

At about 8:40 p.m. Saturday, Concord police said they received a call about a fight outside the Dave and Buster’s, and as they were responding, shots were fired. One possibility that authorities are investigating is whether shots were fired from a car in the parking lot during a fight, police said.

There have been no arrests as of Monday but police have released a photo, taken from surveillance video footage, of a person they believe was involved in the fatal shooting. Concord Chief Gary Gacek tweeted asking for the public’s help saying, “It’s highly unlikely this ‘person of interest’ went to the mall alone or is otherwise anonymous! Someone knows who he is.”

The mall said Monday the case remains under investigation and referred questions to Concord Police. Authorities have not said whether Aveanna or the two injured boys were targeted during the shooting.

“We are deeply saddened by the tragic incident that occurred Saturday evening outside the exterior entrance to Dave & Buster’s,” the mall said in a statement Monday.

Concord Mills mall, off Exit 49 in Concord about 25 miles northeast of Charlotte, is the largest outlet mall in North Carolina with more than 200 stores, and a 24-screen AMC/IMAX movie theater and a Sea-Life Aquarium.

Note: This story was updated to correct the spelling of Aveanna Propst’s name.

This story was originally published December 30, 2019 at 5:53 PM.