Man killed, brother wounded in shooting at mall parking lot

MAYS LANDING, N.J. – Two brothers were shot, one fatally, in the parking lot of a mall in southern New Jersey early Friday, authorities said.

Acting Atlantic County Prosecutor Diane Ruberton said the shooting happened around 1 a.m. outside the Macy’s store at the Hamilton Mall in Mays Landing, about 12 miles west of Atlantic City.

Twenty-one-year-old Demond Cottman, of Atlantic City, was shot multiple times and pronounced dead at the scene.

Twenty-six-year-old Shadi Cottman, of Clayton, was shot in the leg and was listed in stable condition.

Authorities haven’t identified any suspects or said what may have sparked the shooting.

Demond Cottman was a 2013 graduate of Atlantic City High School, where he was a standout football player and runner, and he recently became a father and was an electrical apprentice, a family member told The Press of Atlantic City. He graduated from basic training in the U.S. Air National Guard in 2014, the newspaper reported.

The Macy’s store had opened at 5 p.m. Thursday. The mall, which was open from 7 p.m. to midnight Thursday, reopened at 6 a.m. for Black Friday shoppers.

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This story has been corrected to show Demond Cottman is 21, not 20, and to show Ruberton is acting prosecutor, not prosecutor.