Hundreds of people sheltered in place at Great Mall in Milpitas Saturday as the Milpitas Police Department investigated a shooting.
Police responded to a reports of shots fired at around 5:16 p.m. and found a 22-year-old San Francisco resident suffering from non-life threatening wounds.
After hours of investigation, detectives from the Special Investigations Unit confirmed the 22-year-old male suffered self-inflicted wounds and was not involved in any type of violence.
In a statement, police said stores were asked to shelter in place while people were being safely evacuated out of the mall. Two people were transported to local hospitals due to unrelated medical emergencies.
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.”
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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.”
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.
"We are thankful for our partnership with the management and security staff of the Great Mall," Milpitas police said in a statement. "We have previously trained and conferred regarding critical incidents such as this and tonight their assistance was greatly appreciated."
The investigation remains ongoing and anyone with information is urged to contact the Milpitas Police Department at (408) 586-2500.
