BRAINTREE, Mass. — Police are investigating a brazen daytime shooting that sent shoppers fleeing from the South Shore Plaza in Braintree.

The 26-year-old victim remained in critical condition after the shooting in a store Saturday afternoon, and police were still searching for the gunman on Sunday, law enforcement officials said.

Braintree Deputy Police Chief Tim Cohoon said the shooting appeared to be “a targeted event and didn’t appear to be random.”

The mall immediately went into lockdown. Hours later, police said the mall was cleared and that the scene was secured.

The mall, which reopened Sunday, has dealt with several disruptions in recent years.

Gang members exchanged fire in 2017, and a teenager was hit by a stray bullet in a shooting incident in 2020. Arrests were made in both of those shootings, police said.

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