JERSEY CITY — Two men are in critical condition on Friday night following a shooting at the Newport Centre mall food court that sent panicked shoppers fleeing.

Friday’s violence comes two days after a daytime shooting in another Jersey City neighborhood that led to lockdowns at three schools, including a pre-k.

The two shootings are related, with a victim of the mall shooting wanted for attempted murder in connection to Wednesday’s violence, city officials said Friday.

The officials described Friday’s episode during a hastily called press conference outside the mall’s McDonald’s as shoppers remained trapped inside stores and cops searched the mall for shooters.

A fistfight at about 6 p.m. on the mall’s third floor ended with gunfire, according to Mayor Steve Fulop. Police Chief Michael Kelly said he would not “speculate” about the number of shooters.

The two victims, one wounded in the stomach and the other in his arm, are being treated at Jersey City Medical Center, Fulop said. One of them, Jalil Holmes, is suspected of involvement in Wednesday’s lunchtime shooting on Grant Avenue that left two hurt and nearby schools locked down, he said. Holmes is the man wanted for attempted murder in connection to that incident, he added.

Kelly said it is a “possibility” the shootings are related to ongoing gang violence. Police do not know if the shooter is in custody, he said.

“We do have two people in custody. We do not know if we have the shooter that started the incident,” Kelly said.

As members of the media asked Fulop and Kelly questions about the shooting, cops with assault rifles entered nearby and proceeded to walk into the mall.

Priscilla Casco, 36, is a manager at The Children’s Place, located on the mall’s ground floor. When gunfire broke out, employees closed the gate and moved all the customers to the back of the store. They hid there for about 10 minutes until officers told them they had to leave the building.

Aside from a few random incidents, Casco said, she does not find the mall to be a dangerous place.

“Outside of this, it’s usually pretty safe," she said.

There is extensive video footage of the violence that police will be reviewing, Public Safety Director James Shea said.

Kelly said both victims are known to police and anyone else involved was “certainly not somebody that’s here to shop.”

“We have no friendly person who was struck by gunfire," he said.

The mall remained shut down for at long as two hours after the shooting, with a massive police presence outside and shoppers still forced to remain inside.

An earlier version of this story should have spelled one of the victim’s names as Jalil Holmes.

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.