On his recent trip home for Thanksgiving break, senior Will Gaca was on the scene of a tragic shopping mall shooting. On Friday November 26, a shooting occurred at the Southpoint Mall in Durham, N.C. Police reported no one was fatally injured.

A total of three people were shot on the second floor of the mall where the argument broke out. In the chaos of the situation, a ten-year-old suffered non-life-threatening injuries from a bullet ricochet, while one man remains in critical condition. Additionally, three people suffered injuries while rushing out of the mall after the shooting.

William Gaca from Durham, N.C., was at the mall when the shooting broke out. He and his family escaped the shooting and safely made it back to their car.

“We heard screaming and a wave of people came running at us and by us,” Will said. “As soon as we figured out that people were probably running from a dangerous situation, we ran out the mall with them.”

“I’m thankful I’m safe,” Will added, noting that the Southpoint Mall is one of the safest in the area. “But [thankful] also that I didn’t get stuck in one of those stores because that would have been a long time just sitting in a crowded room not fully knowing what was going on around me.”

Rosie Crooker, senior from Francestown, N.H., was shocked at the news and worried for Will’s safety when she received a text from him saying, “there is a shooter here.”

“It was scary because I didn’t know if he was okay or not,” Rosie explained. “The text […] can mean so many different things [..], that just made me assume he was in danger or hurt.”

Even though the situation resolved without injuries, Rosie expressed her concerns towards the easiness with which these episodes happen nowadays.

“It is definitely scary [that] with such limited gun control, something like this could happen anywhere in the country,” she said.

Rosie also shared her feeling of powerlessness in situations like this, where she feels completely helpless and shackled up.

“[I felt] so far away from the danger and unable to help.” Rosie continued, “it was hard to not be in a place where I could physically see that he was safe.”

Accordingly to a Dec. 3, 2021, article in The Herald Sun, Durham police determined that the shooting broke out of an attempted jewelry store robbery. Two men walked in the store pointing a gun at the owner and a fight flared up.

Although terrifying, this isn’t the first time the Southpoint Mall has been the target of a violent situation. On Sunday October 24, 2021, a fight broke out in the mall’s food court. The brawl caused chaos and panic among the crowd. Several shoppers witnessed a gun been displayed; thankfully no shots were fired. Police reported that two people were injured from the fight and another two reported trauma after being trampled on rushing out of the mall.

Another mall shooting occurred on Monday, Oct. 25 in Boise, Idaho, in which two people lost their lives. A police officer, who answered the call at the Boise Towne Square Mall, was injured in an exchange of gunfire with one of the suspects. Police couldn’t identify a motive for the shooting. One of the suspects is currently in custody.