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At least three people were wounded during a shooting that took place at an Upstate, South Carolina shopping mall on Friday afternoon (May 2, 2025).
The shooting occurred at approximately 6:30 p.m. EDT at WestGate Mall – a shopping center located next to Interstate 26, approximately three miles west of downtown Spartanburg, S.C.
The aftermath of the incident – including shattered glass, bullet casings and bloody floors – was captured on camera by Upstate small businessman Joe Marzouca.
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Meanwhile, an especially colorful account of the incident was provided on social media by Spartanburg resident Janelle Boston, who was arriving at the mall just as the melee was beginning.
“That motherf*cker had a big ass gun,” Boston said on a Facebook live post, referring to a gunman involved in the incident. “He came out (of) the mall still shooting.”
Boston said she witnessed the gunman – whom she described as a black male in his late teens or early twenties – reenter the mall and return with his firearm concealed in a bag. The gunman then handed the bag to another individual, according to Boston.
“The f*cking shooter done went inside the mall, got a bag and came back out – gave the gun to someone else,” she said.
According to Spartanburg Police Department (SPD), two groups were involved in an altercation prior to the shooting. They entered the mall near the food court when “someone from one of the groups started shooting.”
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Three people were hospitalized in the aftermath of the shooting with non-life-threatening injuries. Two individuals were detained by police.
Deputies with the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) assisted SPD in responding to the incident – and in apprehending the two suspects.
WestGate mall opened in 1975. After its previous owners declared bankruptcy, the 954,302-square foot facility was purchased last year by New York-based Namdar Realty Group.
This is a developing story… please check back for updates.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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5 comments
I wonder if the mall had those stupid “No Concealable Weapons” signs. Can we get some filler on that? Who seriously believes that a thug who thinks nothing of taking a life in a gang dispute or of an innocent bystander will obey one of those signs?
Okay, the video answered my question. This mall DOES have the stupid “No Concealable Weapons” signs. What good did it do? Please, someone tell me what good these signs did? The people doing the shooting likely could not legally possess firearms or ammunition because of prior criminal history. I bet the mall’s answer to this will be to double down on keeping legally armed citizens and retired cops disarmed in their facility, same as Columbiana Centre did a few years ago following a similar incident. Columbiana Center has seen quite a few patrons robbed in its parking lot over the years. They have had at least one citizen shot in its parking lot and killed, but why not just ensure that citizens are disarmed and helpless, same as their unarmed security force, so the criminals will feel safe, there?
Just because the signs are there doesn’t mean people have to obey them. I personally carry my weapon with me wherever I go because you never know when you may need it. I’d rather have it and use it and not have it and need to use it.
I concur, Nunya! That said, I highly resent business such as a majority of these indoor shopping malls, that endeavor to keep patrons helpless and at the mercy of criminals who frequent their facilities. Their unarmed security forces are a literal joke. Not knocking the people who work in these forces, but the idea that big hats, big shiney badges, and vehicles with yellow flashing blinky lights would in any way discourage or stop an armed assault or robbery.
Then you have the smaller businesses that don’t even offer that much.
Giving those signs force of law was a mistake that needs to be corrected. Legislators placed that bit of lunacy there out of “respect for property owners’ rights”, supposedly. Property owners’ rights already had all the respect it needed in the form of existing laws regarding trespass. If a store owner detects you carrying in his store and doesn’t like it, he can tell you to leave or put your gun in the car. If you refuse, he can sign a warrant on you for Trespassing.
I have been in a few doctor and other professional offices with signage asking people to not wear perfumes or cologne in their office as some of their employees might have a severe physical reaction to these fragrances. Those signs have no force of law. If someone walks in, marinated in perfume or cologne, their only option is to ask them to leave. If the fragrant person does not leave, they can call police and sign a warrant. Even if the allergic employee is on the floor gasping for air, that is their only recourse.
The “No Concealable Weapons” signs having force of law needs to go the way of the rotary dial telephone.
My wife and son were inside Belk during the shooting. They said they didn’t hear anything at first—only realizing something was wrong when people began running through the store, warning others about what was happening in the mall.