A shooting in the Great Mall near San Jose, California left thousands of people emotionally upset, took shelter in their places and called home to tell families they loved them, authorities said Sunday, according to CBS San Francisco.
Officers responded to numerous reports of gunfire at the Great Mall in the town of Milpitas at around 5:16 p.m. local time Saturday. When they arrived, they found a 22-year-old man from San Francisco who suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound and was later hospitalized.
Several law enforcement agencies responded to the Great Mall to assist. The stores were asked to take shelter in place while the interior of the mall was evacuated and searched by SWAT teams for suspects and any additional victims.
Two unrelated medical emergencies occurred during the evacuation. Both victims were transported to a local hospital by paramedics.
Agents completed the search at 9:26 PM without locating a shooter. Further investigation by detectives revealed that the 22-year-old man who shot himself and was not the victim of an act of violence.
The chaotic, terrifying event took place during the crush of holiday shopping on the last weekend before Christmas, and shoppers say the mall was full at the time of the shooting – despite that in California home orders.
Terrified employees and shoppers ran out of the mall just minutes after the shooting.
“People ran forward. People ran back and people fell,” Angelo Balma told CBS SF. He was at the mall with friends after a church meeting and said he was at the Columbia store when he heard people screaming, according to the station.
Other people hid in the back of shops.
“They just said active gunman and we just ran, and I ran into the store because the Levi’s man said just run in the back,” said one woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, through tears.
“The people who work in the store said everyone had to run to the back of the store, so everyone panicked, didn’t know what was going on,” said Tiffany Shuler. She was shopping in Gap when she learned of shooting at the mall.
“We just went to the back room, barricaded all three doors we had, and just waited for the police to come,” said Cecilia Centenl. She works at a clothing store in the mall.
Santa Clara County Sheriffs Department officers, dressed in SWAT gear, searched the mall store by store. They even found some shoppers hiding in a hallway.