2 arrested after gunfire between cars at The Shops at Palm Desert; no injuries reported
Two people were detained after gunfire between two cars in the a parking lot of The Shops at Palm Desert.
Riverside County Sheriff's deputies went to the scene just after 2 p.m. Thursday after the report of a shooting. They found there had been shots exchanged between two vehicles, according to a department spokesperson.
No one was injured. The department did not immediately release the identities of the two suspects in custody, but later reported that they were from Desert Hot Springs.
"Based on the investigation, it is believed the incident was a car-to-car, gang-related shooting, with over 40 rounds fired," the sheriff's department wrote in a news release Friday.
One of the stores in the mall was temporarily locked down for precautionary reasons, with a heavy police presence reported in the area. A photographer for The Desert Sun saw roughly 30 bullet casings where deputies were investigating, in the southeastern parking lot on the JCPenney end of the mall.
The mall, located just off Highway 111 in Palm Desert, is a heavily trafficked area that includes several anchor stores, including Macy's, JCPenney and Barnes & Noble.
The sheriff's department said deputies were still investigating.
Tom Coulter covers the cities of Palm Desert, La Quinta, Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells. Reach him at thomas.coulter@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Palm Desert mall: 2 arrested after shooting outside Shops at Palm Desert
