https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/shopp ... 55b00.htmlShoppers safe after gun discharges inside Woodland Hills Mall
No shoppers were hurt, but many were shaken when a patron’s gun accidentally discharged inside Woodland Hills Mall on Friday.
“We heard (someone) yell, ‘Was that gunshots?’ And then everybody was running,” shopper Brandy Smith recounted.
Police responded to the call in force about 2 p.m. and worked with witnesses in a chaotic scene.
“After talking to several witnesses, what looks like happened is this young man was sitting down at the food court; he had a firearm in his pocket, (and) the firearm discharged,” Tulsa Police Capt. Mark Ohnesorge said. “It seemed to surprise him as well as everyone else around him.”
The young patron immediately left, and police were trying to locate him, Ohnesorge said.
The chaos ended about as quickly as it had started, and new shoppers walked about not knowing what had happened. But Smith and her two teenage daughters, all of Broken Arrow, were left standing in the parking lot, still processing the fear they had experienced.
“We were just looking around in Bath and Body Works, and all of a sudden, we hear people running," said Katelyn, 16.
“I heard people yelling, and then I saw people running, and it kind of scared me," 11-year-old Lillie interjected.
"I’m still shaking," the little sister said, clutching her mother.
Smith said the three hid in the back of the store with employees and other customers until the store’s district manager gave the all-clear. She described the employees as “wonderful.”
The family opted to finish out their girls weekend relaxing at home, probably with pizza.
Although they didn’t complete their shopping mission, they were relieved to be safe and were ready to take a break from the mall, if only for a little while, Smith said.
“Right now we’re going to go home and just kind of rest,” she said.
Tulsa is 833 miles from Niceville.