Hater Eraser
Veteran
1 Person Shot At Great Mall in Milpitas, Police Search for Shooter
By NBC Bay Area staff • Published December 19, 2020 • Updated on December 19, 2020 at 11:52 pm
A busy evening of holiday shopping turned into a nightmare Saturday for hundreds of people at the Great Mall in Milpitas when someone shot a male in or near the Old Navy store, sending panicked shoppers running.
Police said via Twitter that all stores were asked to shelter in place out of an abundance of caution.
“Search teams are systematically searching all stores that were sheltering in place, and will be escorting employees and customers out into the parking lot,” Milpitas Police said in a tweet. “Officers and detectives remain on scene and are actively investigating this incident.”
Witness Angelo Palma said that he and a friend were coming from a church meeting when they decided to stop by the mall. He said they were in Columbia when they saw people running.
“We started running,” Palma said. “Everyone starts running. A shooting, everyone just started running. People were running forward, people were running back. People were falling. It was hectic.”
April Darosa and her mom heard screaming and hid in a small storage room of a GNC store with 12 others.
“It was really hot and we weren’t socially distanced and we thought we were going it pass out,” Darosa said. “It was pretty scary.”
Police ordered people to shelter in place and went from store to store, clearing each one, but even when they were cleared, shoppers experienced some tense moments.
Joseph Nelson’s daughter was shopping at the mall and told him she was hiding in the Levi’s store. Nelson watched and waited for three hours before his daughter walked out and the two were united. She was shaken but relieved.
Milpitas Police said the victim was taken to the hospital.
Police are still searching for the suspect and they said they don’t have a description.
It is not known if the suspect and victim knew each other or what led up to the shooting that led to a horrific night for holiday shoppers and mall employees.
Around 9:30 p.m., about four hours after the incident was first reported, police said that while investigators remained on scene, there was no immediate threat to the community.
Last edited:
