Black Friday shoppers were sent scrambling for cover after shots were fired at the Westfield Valley Fair mall in Santa Clara, injuring three, police said.
Three people were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening gunshot wounds, according to the San José Police Department,. Injured were an adult man, an adult woman and a 16-year-old girl, department spokesman Sgt. Jorge Garibay said in media interviews at the scene.
“This was not targeted at unsuspecting shoppers,” Garibay said. “Something occurred between two individuals that prompted the shooting.” Garibay said the two female victims were believed to be bystanders and were “unrelated to the incident.”
He said the suspected shooter was believed to have fled before police officers arrived, and no gun was recovered.
Police at the Westfield Valley Fair Mall after a shooting on Black Friday.
(Shawn Kulasingham)
Shawn Kulasingham, 23, was at the mall with family when he said he heard a loud pop around 5:35 p.m., then saw a “sea of humans” running in every direction in the mall.
“It was a stampede,” he said by phone a few hours later. “The building was almost shaking.”
Kulasingham grabbed his sister and father and ducked into the nearest store that looked secure, an Abercrombie & Fitch. They hid behind clothing racks and cabinets while people panicked, he said.
They spent about 20 minutes inside the store before staff asked them to leave in a single-file line with a police escort. The parking lot was a mess, Kulasingham said, and he forgot his Black Friday haul — a coat he’d bought — back at the Abercrombie store.
“The fear was palpable. This is a really difficult thing to happen during the holiday season,” said Kulasingham, a former congressional staffer who was home visiting family for Thanksgiving. A shooting in his hometown mall alongside the recent killing of a National Guard member in D.C. was a lot to bear, he said.
At least 20 customers were ushered into storage closets in Bloomingdales by store security alongside Bilal Zuberi and his wife, who posted about the incident on X. He did not hear shots, but said there was general panic and an overhead announcement telling them the doors were locked and they should remain in place, he said.
They tried not to panic and not talk about the shooting because there were children sheltering with them, Zuberi said.
Police gave an all-clear to leave the store and mall around 7 p.m., he said. Traffic was backed up from all exits as hundreds of people attempted to leave, he said.
“Thankful for police, first responders, and mall staff who may have been scared themselves but stepped up to guide people to safety, man escalators so nobody could cross floors etc.,” he replied in an X direct message to The Times.
Patrons of the Westfield Valley Mall exit after the shooting.
(Shawn Kulasingham)
Emergency dispatch calls to the police and fire departments at 5:55 p.m. said there were two to three injured people and the shooter was still at large. Multiple calls starting around 5:35 p.m. detailed that multiple people were sheltering in place and reported bullet casings and a trail of blood from Macy’s, dispatchers said.
In a later post at 6:31 p.m., the city department said there was no longer an active shooter.
Officers arrived to a chaotic scene, according to their radio dispatch feeds.
“We have multiple people running across the street,” one emergency responder radioed. Fleeing patrons caused a traffic jam while crossing a nearby street from the mall.
“My prayers are with the victims and I know our officers are doing everything they can to find the person responsible and hold them accountable,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said in an X post.
Garibay said the shooting took place on the second floor of Macy’s. Other photos on X also showed shattered windows at the Bowlero bowling alley adjacent to the Macy’s.
Police said the shooting appeared to be an isolated incident, and that people should avoid the area.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
