Apple Closes Retail Location in North Carolina After Three Shootings'

Apple abruptly shutters store in North Carolina after shootings. (The Straits Times)

One of Apple's retail locations is closing in Charlotte, North Carolina's Mecklenburg County's Northlake Mall. When at least three shootings occurred at the mall in recent months, the Apple Store was forced to close. After numerous gunshots that took place at the mall over the past few months, the Northlake Mall Apple Store in Charlotte, North Carolina, has closed. Apple Insider claims that the store's permanent closure occurred at 4:00 PM on March 1st. No layoffs, according to Apple, since employees from the shuttered shop will be moved to the adjacent South Park site in Charlotte. Some of them would be employed by the business' online store as well. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="594"] Image credit- Tech Times[/caption] The corporation first told the store's staff. A released statement appeared on its website early on Wednesday. According to the statement, "all of our team members will continue to service our Charlotte customers at apple SouthPark and the Apple Store Online. A new site will also open in Charlotte the following year to take the place of the Northlake Mall shop. The mall shootings contributed to the closure, but there were already a number of plans for the new store in Charlotte. Many people are shocked by this news because Apple rarely closes stores, and the abruptness of the closure makes it all odder. According to Bloomberg, Apple runs around 270 retail stores in the US. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="533"] Image Credit - MapQuest[/caption] Beginning in 2021, shootings started happening in Northlake Mall. Nevertheless, according to Axios, two people were hurt in a gunshot at the same mall last December. Since there is no known danger that is currently present, the mall remained closed the rest of the day. The culprit was promptly detained by a police officer, and the two injured people were transferred to a hospital. In the meantime, following a fight between two people, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department was summoned to the mall in February of last year. Also read: Anker’s $45 Magnetic Portable Phone Charger : Also Functions as a Stand Apart from the two suspects, who were treated for injuries unrelated to the incident, no one else was hurt. To help identify the people involved in the shooting incident, CMPD released CCTV footage that was used to identify the suspects. Apple decided to permanently close the mall-based retail location after the most recent shooting.