A man was killed and his close friend was injured Thursday when they opened fire on each other in Mobile County.

Marlon Trayvelle Pierce, 45, of Deer Park, was identified as the man slain in the double shooting in Citronelle, Police Chief Chris McClean told WPMI.

Pierce’s friend, 49-year-old Citronelle resident Clifford Kirksey, was taken to a local hospital for a gunshot wound.

Police said the friends had a verbal argument that turned physical. They said it wasn’t immediately clear who fired the first shot off Summer Street in Citronelle just before 4 p.m. Thursday. .

“You have two families…. one’s lost a loved one, the other one is in critical condition. No matter how this ends up you have two destroyed families,” McClean said, according to WPMI. “It’s obvious throughout the nation that violent crimes are up and until society decides that this has got to stop, we have to have learn how to do some conflict resolution here and let people know that this is unacceptable behavior. It’s not going to be tolerated and it takes the community to do that.”