Police officer fatally shot at South Carolina mall

A South Carolina police officer was fatally shot at a mall on Wednesday during a struggle with a knife-wielding gunman, a law enforcement official said.

Greg Alia of the Forest Acres Police Department responded with two other officers to a call about a suspicious person, Police Chief Gene Sealy told reporters.

The suspect, identified as Jarvis Hall, ran from the officers into Richland Mall in Columbia, South Carolina, Sealy said. Alia caught up with him and was shot during a struggle.

Hall, 34, who was armed with a handgun and knife, was taken into custody, Sealy said.

He is expected to be charged with one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder, said Lieutenant Curtis Wilson, a spokesman for the Richland County Sheriff's Department.

Alia, 32, was a seven-year veteran of the police department in Forest Acres, a suburb of Columbia, Sealy told reporters.

He was married and the father of a newborn baby, the police chief said.

"He was a role model for our new police officers," Sealy said, noting the community's deep grief.

The county sheriff's department and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division are assisting the police department with the investigation, he said.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.