TEMPE, Ariz. — There are still many questions about a shooting that happened inside Arizona Mills Mall Friday night. 12News spoke with several people who were inside the mall at the time of the shooting and they say it was terrifying.
"People started running and yelling so we didn't want to stick around," said one person.
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VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: Las personas que estaban dentro del centro comercial Arizona Mills durante el tiroteo recuerdan momentos aterradores
The scene outside the mall Friday night was chaotic. Police lights filled the area around the shopping center. For those inside who watched everything unfold, it was almost surreal.
"We heard more than 10 shots," said Adam Garcia. "There were three boys who were ordering next door to us and we saw them dart out of the way. It was so loud in there, there's music playing kids screaming and once you hear the gunfire everybody was everywhere."
Garcia works at Thai Esane, Fresh Flavorful Thai. He says while normally at the register, he and another employee had just walked to a prep station towards the back of the space. That's when they say they heard gunshots.
"We just took an order," he said. "And if we hadn't we would've been in the crossfire there because where the bullet is we're always standing to greet customers. That was scary to us. We were like wow, if that person hadn't ordered we would've probably gotten hit."
Tempe police say around 7:30 p.m. Friday, 911 calls came in reporting shots fired in the mall food court. It's still unclear what led up to the shooting and how many people were involved. Authorities though say no injuries were reported.
"A lot of us rolled around on the ground and took off and went out the back door," Garcia said. "When we got outside they were already surrounding the place. There was a helicopter and everything."
Garcia applauds the police response but says it may be helpful if there were more of a presence inside. That way it may deter something like this from happening again.
"Honestly, I just think they need more mall security that are police officers from Tempe," he said. "Mall cops do their job and take care of people and keep an eye for missing children. But you have to have armed people that are here for those reasons."
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