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Police investigating deadly shooting at shopping plaza in DeKalb County

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Police said a man who was shot in a busy shopping plaza has died.

Authorities are now searching for the shooter, who was able to get away before investigators arrived.

The incident happened Tuesday afternoon on Covington Highway and Phillips Road.

Erica Jackson, a resident of Lithonia, stood behind yellow tape at the shopping plaza and watched police collect evidence.

"It hurts me to see my people out here like this, honestly, it really does," Jackson said.

Authorities say someone shot the man at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.

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Authorities said the two men got into an argument and one shot the other in front of a barbershop.

When paramedics arrived to the plaza, they quickly transported the victim to the hospital and police never got the chance to speak with him.

Investigators said the shooter left the scene before they arrived.

"What happened to walking away? What happened to that? They don't do that anymore and when are we gonna start policing each other up," Jackson said.

Jackson said she's tired of all the violence in her community. She said her brother was murdered, and she started a nonprofit that will hopefully teach the youth in the community that violence is not the answer.

"How many times are we going to continue to take our own people's lives?" Jackson asked.

Macneal James said it was a miracle that no one else was shot because the plaza was packed at the time of the shooting.

"The stray bullets could hit anybody," James said.

All six of the businesses were shut down for a couple of hours Tuesday while police investigated.

Police believe someone in one of the businesses may have seen what happened. So far, witnesses have said they only heard the shots.