Three people were shot Friday after a dispute at The Shops at Iverson, a mall in Temple Hills, Prince George’s County Police Chief Malik Aziz said.

       Aziz said that there appeared to have been some kind of “verbal exchange” inside the mall and that, once outside, one man turned and “fired multiple shots” toward others near the entrance. It was unclear if those struck were a part of the dispute or merely bystanders.

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       “Whether their target was to just fire recklessly at those individuals, three people were struck by those bullets,” he said. The shooter and another man with him then fled and remain at large, he said.

       The victims, two women and a man, were taken to the hospital, police said on Twitter. They said that the man was in critical condition and that the women “suffered what are believed to be non-life-threatening injuries.”

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       Security officers working at the mall came to the aid of the victims, authorities said.

       The incident — coming on the heels of several high-profile mass shootings across the country — left shoppers at the mall rattled.

       “We must address these senseless acts of gun violence,” Aziz said. “Open, cowardly acts.”

       The shooting occurred at 12:45 p.m. near the mall entrance, police said.

       A police spokeswoman said officers responded to the 3700 block of Branch Avenue. The mall is at Branch Avenue and Silver Hill Road. At 2 p.m., police had a section of the mall parking lot blocked off with yellow crime scene tape.

       Bonita Luckett, 51, said she was in the downstairs portion of the mall getting her hair done at a beauty academy, when she heard several gunshots. She said a person came downstairs and said, “Someone upstairs got shot.”

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       Then another person said several people got shot, she recounted.

       Luckett said she looked for an exit and found one at the back of the hair academy, in case she had to evacuate. She said she didn’t leave because no one told those in the hair academy to evacuate.

       Luckett then got her hair finished.

       “I’m so used to hearing gunshots,” she said. “It’s sad you got to live like this every day.”

       Laura Dempsey, 57, said that at around 12:50 p.m., she and her boyfriend were going through the drive-through at the Bojangles next door to get lunch, and she noticed a heavy police presence and paramedics in the parking lot, by the entrance of the mall.

       Dempsey said she knew what the large amount of police in the area meant.

       “I said to my boyfriend, ‘I bet someone got shot,' ” she said. A person outside the restaurant confirmed her suspicion, telling her Bojangles was closed because of the shooting, she said.

       Dempsey said she and her boyfriend drove away.

       “Something really, really needs to be done,” Dempsey said, noting that the shooting in broad daylight showed “no regard for life.”