Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Palmdale Teen-Ager Fatally Shot During Dispute Outside Mall : Violence: Security at Antelope Valley complex has been stepped up in the wake of the attack.

A 16-year-old Palmdale youth was fatally shot during a confrontation outside the busy Antelope Valley Mall, the only enclosed shopping center in the fast-growing area, authorities said.

Efrain Pablo Brito stepped out of a car at 7:45 p.m. Tuesday during an argument with youths in a second vehicle. When he approached the white compact, he was shot once in the upper torso by someone in the second car, Sheriff’s Deputy Irma Becerra said.

Brito’s friends drove him to Palmdale Hospital Medical Center, where he died at 10:13 p.m. Local school officials said Brito was a 10th-grade student at Littlerock High School.

Homicide investigators were searching Wednesday for the unidentified gunman.

“It is not known what the victim and the suspect were arguing about,” Becerra said. “At this point, the case is not being investigated as gang-related. But it is believed that the victim and the suspect knew each other.”

The incident was not the first serious crime to occur at the Palmdale shopping center, which is also one of the high desert’s most popular public gathering places. The mall has been the scene of several violent robberies.

In June, 1993, a security guard exchanged shots with gunmen who took at least $700,000 worth of jewelry from a mall store. A month later, an armored car guard shot two men who tried to rob him while he was carrying a bag of money inside a mall department store.

But Tuesday’s incident in the north parking lot is believed to be the first fatal shooting ever to occur at the mall, which will be 4 years old in September. The center has five large department stores and 125 other restaurants and smaller shops.

On Wednesday morning, all mall merchants received a memo about the fatal shooting, and security patrols in the parking lots were stepped up, said Ruth Ann Moore, the mall’s marketing director.

At the same time, however, Moore issued a public statement that characterized the slaying as “an isolated incident that could happen at any time and place in our community.”

Sgt. Bob Denham of the sheriff’s Antelope Valley Station agreed. “It is not a crime-ridden mall,” he said. “It is a very family oriented atmosphere. People should not allow a single incident to keep them away.”

The shooting made some shoppers and merchants jittery, while others viewed the killing as a tragic aberration.

“It made me pretty nervous,” said C. J. Gill, 26, a saleswoman at Gary’s Tux Shop. “Usually, we feel pretty secure because the security office is right next door.”

Laura Lavigne, 28, a clerk at Kits Cameras, said she plans to exercise ever more caution than usual after working a late shift.

“I think it’s a safe place,” she said of the mall. “‘But when we walk out at night, we try to walk in a group.”

Three young Palmdale residents who described themselves as “mall dwellers” said the mall was an unlikely location for violence.

“It doesn’t have a bad reputation for violence,” said Erik Will, 18.

“Nobody’s ever messed with me here,” added David Reyes, 25.

Abel Morales, 18, agreed: “I’ve never gotten into any trouble here. I feel pretty secure.”

Aubrey Hilliard, 18, a frequent mall visitor who brought along her 5-year-old sister Elizabeth on Tuesday, said she had never seen any mall crimes more serious than shoplifting. The shooting, she said, will not keep her from returning.