A 7-year-old girl has been hospitalised after being shot in front of her mother at a shopping centre in the US.
The girl was shot on Saturday afternoon at Mondawmin Mall in Baltimore, police said.
Two groups got into an altercation at the mall and an unidentified man fired a shot as he was running away that struck the girl in the upper body.
The girl was at the mall with her mother and was not the intended victim, according to police.
Police said she was taken to hospital with multiple gunshot wounds and was in critical but stable condition on Saturday evening.
Authorities were continuing to search for the suspect on Sunday.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said: “We cannot live in a world where people can't, in Baltimore City, come to Mondawmin get snickerdoodles get a pretzel and just go about their lives...We won't stop until we find them.
“We will find them and turn them over to the other parts of the justice system. We are going to continue to pray for the victim, and let those individuals know we will find you. Turn yourself in... Stand up and stand tall for what you've done because we're going to find you anyway.”
Police Commissioner Richard Worley said the shooter had fled the scene and labelled them a “coward”.
“He’s the one we want, but we want everybody that was there with him when he pulled the gun. They know who he is. He knows who he is,” he said.
In December, a man delivering packages at the mall was shot in the ankle in the parking lot when he became caught between two groups of men who were shooting at each other.
