By DEON J. HAMPTON World Staff Writer
Published: 4/11/2010 2:30 AM
Last Modified: 4/11/2010 4:12 AM

MUSKOGEE — One person was killed and five others were injured Saturday in an apparent gang-related shooting at a crowded downtown mall.

Police initially locked down Arrowhead Mall after responding to a shots-fired call about 4:20 p.m., trapping some shoppers and workers inside.

Downtown was crowded Saturday with visitors to the city's annual Azalea Festival activities.

Jarrod Reed, 17, was fatally shot, and one other person was known to have been struck by gunfire, Muskogee Police Department Cpl. Pedro Zardeneta said. Officers were still trying to sort out how the other injuries occurred.

A 13-year-old girl who was among those injured was taken by helicopter to a Tulsa hospital.

Police were searching for Daniel Jermaine Anderson, 20, who is about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs between 150 and 160 pounds; Michael Mayberry, 16, who is about 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs about 160 pounds; and Anton Nelson, 17, who is about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs about 135 pounds.

The suspects apparently knew the victim, and the shooting may have been gang-related, the police spokesman said.

Investigators were reviewing surveillance video from the mall, Zardeneta said.

A mall worker who witnessed the shooting and asked not to be identified said she saw 10 to 15 people involved in an argument that escalated into shoving before one person was shot in the chest.

A gas station clerk, Rebecca Jonson, said she was told by her father, a police officer, that her boyfriend, Raheem Johnson, and another friend were hospitalized after the shooting.

"It's gang-related. It's been building," she said. "There's two different gangs in Muskogee. One's on the north side, and one's on the south side, and they don't like each other."

She said her boyfriend is not a gang member but is friends with some. She said she witnessed a shouting match involving the rival gangs a couple weeks ago at the local Walmart.

A.H. Jones, president of the Ministerial Union of Muskogee, said, "All witnesses gave the same statement of who the shooter was. It's a turf war."

Jones and several other ministers gathered at Muskogee Regional Medical Center to comfort friends and relatives of the victims. As many as 100 people had gathered at the hospital.

Shoppers inside the mall were told by a public-address announcement to leave quickly, and they gathered outside the mall. Several said they heard four or five shots just before the announcement about 4:15 p.m.

Tonya Pierce said her daughter and two friends were waiting for a ride home when shots rang out. Her daughter told her that "people started screaming" and a group of men started shooting, Pierce said. "They thought they were trying to shoot someone else."

In a tearful reunion outside the mall, Pierce alternated between hugging her daughter and holding her face in her hands.

Anil Pradhanan, who owns a jewelry store in the mall, said he ran for cover after hearing the gunshots.

"It happened so quick, I had to run," Pradhanan said.

Witnesses told police they thought it was a gunfight, Zardeneta said.

Gunfire was reported elsewhere in the city after the mall shooting, but the reports haven't been confirmed, he said.

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