The Hoover Police Departement issued a statement on Friday night saying that the black man who was killed by police officers, 21-year-old Emantic Fitzerarld Bradford Jr., “may have been involved in some aspect” of an altercation inside the Riverchase Galeria near Birmingham on Thanksgiving.

However Bradford, “likely didn’t fire the rounds,” that struck an unidentified 18-year old man and an innocent 12-year old girl as initially suggested. Both remain in the hospital as they’re treated for bullet wounds.

“We knew it was false,” said stepmother Cynthia Bradford when she heard police were blaming him for the shooting, which took place on the mall’s second level, just before 10 p.m.