Police are searching for a man suspected of shooting two people and creating havoc at Newport Centre Mall in Jersey City, authorities said.

Ahmad Broadway is wanted in connection with Friday night's shooting, which injured Jalil Holmes, 19, and another unidentified victim, said Ashley Manz, a spokeswoman for Jersey City.

Holmes has been charged with multiple crimes, including attempted murder, for a separate shooting on Grant Avenue on Jan. 9. Holmes was taken into custody and charged with rioting in Friday night's shooting, Manz said.

Shortly after 6 p.m. Friday, a war of words quickly escalated into gunfire, clearing the 1.2 million-square-foot mall and causing a maelstrom, Mayor Steven Fulop said.

“It was a fistfight,” Fulop said. “One guy sucker-punched the other guy and then shots. One of them was carrying a gun. These people have a history. They’re familiar to each other.”

The shots caused a panicked stampede of people rushing toward the exits and trapping many others. Scott Fallon, environmental reporter for NorthJersey.com and the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey, was at the mall with his wife, Dawn, and their daughter Emma at the time of the shooting. They were able to escape safely.

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Both Holmes and the second unidentified victim were taken to Jersey City Medical Center but have since been released, Manz said.

Broadway, Holmes and the third person are "familiar" characters in the violence that often erupts in Jersey City, Fulop said. These groups of people align themselves based on their neighborhoods, rather than particular gang allegiances, he said.

“It’s not the typical Blood-Crips, so to speak,” Fulop said. “These are crews loosely associated with where they grew up.”

The charges filed against Holmes stem from one such incident on Jan. 9, in which two people were shot while in a car, Manz said. The victims were taken to a local medical center with non-life-threatening injuries, she said. Jakeem Gibson Madison of Jersey City was also arrested in that shooting, charged with multiple crimes, Manz said.

Jersey City police ask anyone with information on Broadway or the Friday night shooting to contact 201-395-4000.

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