Three Shot Dead at Kansas City Shopping Center: "I Got to Praying"

Four people have been shot and three are confirmed dead in a shooting at Ward Parkway Mall in Kansas City.

KCTV5 has received reports that the gunman is among those dead. 

Two people died and at least two others were wounded Sunday in a shooting at a shopping mall in Kansas City, Missouri, a Fire Department official said.

A police officer was wounded in a nearby incident authorities believe is related, Kansas City Fire Department Battalion Chief Joe Vitale said. He added that the dead include the original shooter.

The dead and two or three others who were wounded were at Ward Parkway Shopping Center, about nine miles south of downtown Kansas City, Vitale said.

Janet Coleman said she saw "a young man with a sawed-off shotgun" in the parking lot being chased by police.

"I could just see a blunt-sized gun bigger than, like a regular .44," she said, adding that she gained her expertise in weapons from watching "a lot of crime TV."

Inside, clothing store manager Lissa Young said "several rounds of gunfire" were followed by two customers who ran into the store and said shots had been fired. She said she immediately locked the doors and ordered the customers to the back of the store, where they waited until police gave them the all-clear.