Shots fired in Montgomery Mall parking lot Friday

By Elyse Lowet

Police rushed to Westfield Montgomery Mall Friday night after receiving reports of gunshots fired at about 7:08 p.m. They found shell casings in the parking lot by the food court, but did not find any victims. The bullets struck two parked cars in the lot.

Witnesses told the police that the shooting occured due to an argument between two groups of two men which continued in the mall parking lot. The men fled the scene, and police are still trying to identify the suspects.

The mall didn’t shut down after the incident, although some individual stores decided to close. For the most part, the inside of the mall was the same as any other Friday night.

“Honestly I didn’t notice too much of a difference than usual,” senior Lars Crovetto-Soholt, who was at the food court at the time of the shooting, said. “There was a bit of confusion, but it almost seemed like people didn’t realize anything was going on.”

When Crovetto-Soholt walked outside, he saw police cars crowding the scene, but he still didn’t know what had happened.

“I was just really confused,” he said. “I hadn’t heard the gunshots, and I sort of just looked around to see if I could get any indication as to what happened. I didn’t end up finding out until after I left.”

Sophomore Drew Meadows went to the Cheesecake Factory on the other side of the mall shortly after the shots were fired and saw police cars and helicopters arriving when she pulled in.

“I️ felt uneasy because it was the second time a shooting occurred at the mall and it freaked me out,” Meadows said.