There was panic at the local mall this weekend when shoppers thought they heard a loud bang near the foodcourt. According to a witness, people scattered immediately – running for exits, diving into stores to hide and leaving cell phones, bags, food behind. People were screaming and crying in fear.
A ladder had fallen down at the Lids store.
It turns out there was one gunshot. Some guy with a concealed weapon accidentally shot himself while rushing to “safety”. Opps. (The witness said he never heard this actual gunshot).
The witness said this reminded him of a school shooting at his high school a decade ago. “You could see the fear in people’s eyes,” he says. “They thought their lives could end that night.”
Stores were locked down for 2 hours while people huddled inside. One person expressed gratitude to Bath and Bodyworks employees that gave people hiding in the store food and water during the “ordeal”.
There were two injuries – a woman was fell down during her attempt to evacuate and the guy who shot himself was taken by EMTs to the hospital.
OK. I’ve got some thoughts on this.
First, I imagine if I was somewhere (like a mall on a Saturday night where other shootings have occurred) and thought I heard a gun, I would run out of there asap. So I can’t blame people for doing that.
What I wouldn’t do is let myself get locked into some store for several hours being terrified a shooter was coming. Not a chance. I’d have bolted out the emergency exit in the back for sure.
But something else occurs to me. If people are so terrified of being shot, why are they going to the mall at all? I hear bangs and explosions semi-regularly in my neighborhood. There’s a quarry that sets of explosions. There’s early morning garbage trucks emptying dumpsters that bang when their lids slam down. Around the 4th of July and New Year’s Eve, there are fireworks some evenings.
Perhaps I even hear gunshots sometimes. After all, hunting is popular, guns are prevalent and deer are everywhere.
At no time do any of these noises make me fear for my life.
And again, if I heard what I thought was rapid, repeated gunshots, I’d disappear.
Here’s another thought.
Who the f$#k needs food and water during a two hour lockdown? I guarantee that 90% of those people hiding were not starving nor dehydrated. That said, I understand why the BB employees offered this. It is a kind gesture to help ease the fears of those people who were freaking out.
My last thought goes back to my post from a few days ago on how I predict mass shootings will end. I would guess that if this mall continues to have lockdowns and shootings every few months, that people will stop going to it. They will find something else to do.
I think this will be hastened by people’s irrational (or is it rational?) fear of being shot.
Eventually the mall will close.
Problem solved.
I’m trying hard not to be smug and contemptuous about this incident and people’s reactions. But I must admit, it did make me laugh that the only person who was shot was the dude who shot himself with an illegally concealed weapon.
It like something from Keystone Cops or the Three Stooges.