NATIONAL — Officials are now saying the man who Alabama police shot and killed after a shooting at a mall near Birmingham "likely did not fire the shots" that wounded two people and sent terrified shoppers running for cover.
- Alabama mall shooter still at large
- Man killed "likely did not fire shots," police say
- Man killed by police identified as Emantic Bradford Jr.
- Two others injured in mall shooting
Authorities mistakenly thought Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr. fired the rounds that left an 18-year-old and a 12-year-old hospitalized, Hoover police spokesman Capt. Gregg Rector said in a statement.
Police initially said Bradford opened fire after an altercation with the 18-year-old and an officer fatally shot him as he fled the scene. But late Friday, police changed that story, saying that while Bradford was involved in "some aspect of the altercation" and was armed with a handgun, he likely did not fire the rounds that injured the two others.
"We regret that our initial media release was not totally accurate, but new evidence indicates that it was not," Rector said.
The shooting occurred Thanksgiving night at the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover after an altercation ensued between several people.
Authorities realized the error after Jefferson County Sheriff's Office investigators spoke to witnesses and examined evidence, police said.
"Investigators now believe that more than two individuals were involved in the initial altercation," Rector said. "This information indicates that there is at least one gunman still at large."
The officer involved in the shooting is on administrative leave pending an investigation, police said.
Information from CNN used in this report.