Picture shown is for illustrative purposes only.

Gunfire broke out inside a mall in a Denver suburb on Friday, killing a 17-year-old boy and causing shoppers to scatter in search of hiding places, police officials and a witness said.

Aurora Police Department spokesman Anthony Camacho said officers were looking for at least one suspect who wielded a handgun in the shooting that occurred at 4 p.m. inside a J.C. Penney store at the Town Center at Aurora mall.

He said there was no ongoing threat inside the mall, which remained open except for the J.C. Penney. Yellow police tape cordoned off one entrance to the store.

"We do not believe there is a threat to the general public,” he told reporters.

Camacho said he could not immediately confirm how many people were involved in the shooting. Further details on the teenager who was killed weren't immediately released.

It was the second shooting in the Aurora mall this month, Camacho said. A boy was injured in a Dec. 14 shooting at the mall.

In March, a 16-year-old boy was shot and killed in the mall’s parking lot.

Police also responded to a call of shots fired at the mall on Nov. 30, but found no evidence of a firearm.

Officers patrolling the mall on Friday responded to reports of gunfire inside the store and found the boy wounded, Camacho said. The teen was taken to a hospital, where he died.