Good morning. This was an eventful weekend.

1. Was there a shooting at Crabtree Mall?We reported on Saturday’s Crabtree Mall shooting. Check out this blog for a detailed account of what was going on that day.

Update, 5:59: If you head to our Facebook page, you can watch the press conference live. Here are some of what RPD told us:

Police say they have no one in custody. No one hit by gunshot. Investigation is ongoing.

“Are you looking for multiple suspects?”

“We don’t know at this time.”

“Until we can render everything safe,” no one goes into the mall.

“Possibility it may be a firecracker?” reporter asks. Police say they are looking at all possibilities.

EMS says eight people transported, no injuries life threatening, all from the chaos after the incident. Injuries mostly having to do with a fall—leg and limb, no penetrating injuries.

The only problem? We’re not even sure if there was actually a gunshot. On Sunday, the RPD put out another statement, indicating that they still hadn’t found any evidence there was a shooting whatsoever.
The Raleigh Public Record talked to a forensics analyst about it.

In order to better understand the video, we reached out to Dr. Robert Maher of Montana State University, a professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering who also provides expert audio forensic testimony in court cases across the country. “My quick assessment of the recording is that it certainly captures a very abrupt and loud sound, but the characteristics are not unequivocally the sound of the muzzle blast from a firearm,” Maher said.

“The typical characteristic of a nearby gunshot is a sharp crack or pop, rather than the predominantly low-frequency boom that is present in this recording.”

Maher went on to note that “without additional information, I would not be able to make a scientific statement based on this recording alone.”

Commenter KikiReese shared her story with us of being in the mall when this happened, and disputes that there was a “spray of bullets,” as one man told me in the aftermath of the shooting.

I have several issues with what is in this article. Not with what you’re reporting but with the information that was given to your contact on the scene. I was there when this incident happened. We were in Children’s Place which is upstairs down by Macy’s. After hearing a sound that sounded like something fell, I hear yelling, screaming and what sounds like thunder (from a mass amount of people running). People started running by into Macy’s so we took off and did the same. I heard some lady say there was a bomb. And others said they were just running because everyone else said to get out now including mall security. Plus in today’s world, I’m not going to stick around to find out what really happened.

I did not hear a spray of bullets as one person had said, I’m certain I would’ve heard that. Plus there would have been bullet holes in the area and shell casings from a gun that would “spray bullets”.

One report says down by Lush. And someone had an Instagram video with what sounded like a shot that was fairly close. They were right by Lush in the video. Lush is not near the food court.

Eye witness accounts are saying it happened in the food court. So were there two shooters? The shop owner who saw two people arguing and one pulled a gun..there is no video footage of this anywhere?

Why would officers share false information that they had someone in custody?

We made our way to our car in the parking garage and were able to exit mall property turning left on Edwards Mill. We were waiting with other vehicles and we were on the second floor. Why were people allowed to leave the property at all? The cops were already on site when we were pulling out onto Edwards Mill.

In the chaos that I witnessed, a shooter or shooters would have had no problem getting out when everyone else did. Because we got out before the lock down. We were in the car and waiting before we even heard sirens.

Something happened and someone knows the truth..whatever it is. I’m not a conspiracy theorist because I live in the real world. I mean what would the reason have been to fake a shooting st the mall yesterday. Also I’m not a “crisis actor” as some have accused of others that were on the scene. There were hundreds of people running towards Macy’s. There were hundreds of people everywhere. We had been in the food court area at Think Geek before we went down to Children’s Place. The place was as packed as you would expect on a Saturday.

We will probably never know what really happened. If it was in fact a noise that was created by something falling..we’ll never know. I do know that being in that situation, running with my husband and 6 year old daughter to get outside isn’t something I want to go through again. It’s hard to really feel one way or the other because you just don’t know what really happened. Had it been a mass shooting, I would be in a very different place mentally this morning.

We’ll keep updating this story as we find out more information.

2. The same thing happened at JFK last night.

Police have given the all-clear at John F. Kennedy International Airport after reports of shots fired Sunday night inside Terminal 8, a New York law enforcement official told CNN. Two people reported hearing what they thought were shots fired, law enforcement sources said. Police went floor to floor to clear the airport and ensure there was nothing to be found, a source said. Surveillance video from inside the terminal did not show any shooting.

3. House Republican leader resigns.

Rep. Mike Hager, who has been best-known over the past year for having Twitter beef with Montel and (possibly) leaking information about the HB 2 “fix” to kill it, has resigned.

Hager’s departure comes just weeks after Rep. Charles Jeter (R-Mecklenburg) resigned his seat in late July. Jeter served as chairman of the House Republican Caucus.

The memo prematurely sent by the NCGOP announcing Hager’s resignation says party leaders in the 112th House District–which includes parts of Burke and Rutherford Counties – will meet to select Hager’s replacement on Wednesday, Aug. 17.

4. The best N&O headline of all time.

WTVD-TV reports (http://abc11.tv/2b8C3CT) Sunday that Carlo Bernarte says he’s fed up with the half-dozen crashes since he and his family moved in 2004. A drunken driver hit the home in October and later died.

Authorities confirm that a car crashed through a wall and into Bernarte’s property about 5 a.m. Saturday.

Bernarte says his insurance company canceled his homeowner’s policy over the crashes. He says city engineers have told him extending a nearby guardrail would be a safety issue because it could block the line of sight for drivers leaving the neighborhood.

In all seriousness: that really sucks. The Associated Press report says Benarte is looking to move his family out of this cursed home ASAP.

5. This NYT story about Trump’s campaign chairman is a must-read.

On a leafy side street off Independence Square in Kiev is an office used for years by Donald J. Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, when he consulted for Ukraine’s ruling political party. His furniture and personal items were still there as recently as May.

And Mr. Manafort’s presence remains elsewhere here in the capital, where government investigators examining secret records have found his name, as well as companies he sought business with, as they try to untangle a corrupt network they say was used to loot Ukrainian assets and influence elections during the administration of Mr. Manafort’s main client, former President Viktor F. Yanukovych.

Handwritten ledgers show $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments designated for Mr. Manafort from Mr. Yanukovych’s pro-Russian political party from 2007 to 2012, according to Ukraine’s newly formed National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Investigators assert that the disbursements were part of an illegal off-the-books system whose recipients also included election officials.

That’s it. Have a good week.