Alabama- Huntsville police and employees at a local adult video store are still trying to determine what prompted a Friday night shooting spree and standoff with officers at a University Drive shopping center.

Freddie Lee Gholston, 23, was arrested and booked into the Madison County Detention Facility, charged with shooting into an occupied building, reckless endangerment and receiving stolen property, said Lt. Mike Bundy of the west precinct. Police said Gholston fired nine shots into the ABC liquor store and the Adult Video store in the University Plaza shopping center, 4320 University Drive, about 7:30 p.m. After shooting up the stores, Gholston climbed on top of a car in the parking lot and held police at bay for 2 1/2 hours, police said. No one was hurt, and Gholston surrendered about 9:55 p.m.

Sgt. Mike Walker of the west precinct said the pistol used Friday night had been reported stolen.

Police negotiators talked to Gholston during the standoff until he requested to talk to Madison County Sheriff’s Deputy Phillip Muhammad, who Gholston said he knew. When Muhammad arrived and talked to Gholston, he surrendered, Walker said.

Walker said police are still trying to determine the reason for the rampage.

The front door had to be replaced before Adult Video could reopen at 9 a.m. Saturday. Store clerk Nicole Grimes said one case of videos was found damaged. She said clerk Josh White and store manager Daniel Clay returned to the store Friday night after the standoff.

They had left the store about 7:30 p.m. when Gholston fired shots in the parking lot and inside the store, demanding they leave.

“There was one customer in the store,” White said. “After he fired the first shots, he was gone.”

They don’t expect that customer to come back.

Store employees said Gholston was calm when he walked in and told them to leave. None of them recognized him as a regular customer.

“We just wonder why?” Grimes said. “He wasn’t there to rob us. I mean, he let me take my purse.”

“And he let me get my cell phone,” White added.

Grimes said Gholston was “nice, considering what he was doing.”

Once the employees left the store, Grimes said they headed to the nearby Liberty 2000 gas station as they called police.

“We saw him kicking something,” she said. “It must have been the door. It’s destroyed.”

Until police arrived, Gholston walked around the gold four-door sedan that he had parked in front of the pawn shop next to the video store.

After police arrived, the gunman sat on the roof of the car. For the next 2 1/2 hours, he jumped down and walked around the car or opened the car door. At one point, he even stood up on the car.

The store employees were relieved when they heard the ordeal was over at 9:55 p.m., and no one was hurt.

“I’m glad they didn’t have to shoot him,” Grimes said. “It seemed obvious to me he didn’t really want to hurt anybody by the way he treated us.”

Grimes, White and Clay were at a safe distance across the street, behind businesses where police had repeatedly warned onlookers to get out of the line of fire. Officers had to threaten to take some to jail to get them to disband.

“We wanted the public to be safe in case it got to the point of a shootout,” said Walker. “Bullets fly fast and can travel far distances.”