The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Mall staff, shoppers hid after shooting
Kris Hyun, of Brookfield, said his wife had taken their two daughters, ages nine and six, to the Danbury Fair mall Wednesday evening for a special treat — pretzels from Auntie Anne’s — after dropping off their son at soccer practice.
It was nearing dinnertime and Hyun’s wife was about to pay for their pretzels on the second floor of the mall when they heard a “big thump noise,” Hyun said.
All of a sudden, they heard people screaming and yelling and running out of Macy’s a few stores down.
Hyun said his wife quickly pulled the girls into Icing, a jewelry store next to Auntie Annie’s. Inside, an employee ushered the group of roughly 13 people back through an inventory or storage area, locking a door behind them. From there, they all piled into a small bathroom.
The employee locked that door too, Hyun said.
“There were 13 people in there standing and waiting,” Hyun said.
A similar situation played out in different sections of the mall Wednesday night after a 15-year-old girl was shot. Listed in stable condition at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford, the girl was part of a group of
“I never heard what a gunshot sounded like before, and there were screams.” Manny Maldonado, a worker at Danbury Fair mall
people who got into an altercation with another group, according to Police Chief Patrick Ridenhour. During the skirmish, one person pulled out a gun and fired one bullet, striking her in the chest.
Police were able to determine what happened using mall surveillance footage, Ridenhour said, between when they arrived shortly after 7 p.m. and sometime after 8 p.m.
But within that hour, many feared the worst as those unable to immediately leave the mall sought refuge in back storage rooms, locked in with employees. Many said hours later they heard a similar “bang” or “boom” noise and saw people running, unsure of what exactly happened.
Hyun had arrived home from work when his wife called from inside the bathroom — a quick, quiet call. A “just in case” call.
“She was telling me she loved me and all this stuff, and I was like what’s going on,” he said. “She wanted to make it short because she didn’t want to be a burden on other people by making noises or talking too long.”
Hyun began researching online trying to figure out what was going on at the mall. When his wife said she wasn’t hearing any more gunshots, Hyun said he felt better because it didn’t sound like a mass shooting.
An old friend who worked for the Brookfield Police Department kept the worried father updated.
“The suspect was not targeting random people. That’s when I felt a little relieved,” Hyun said.
While the call was brief, Hyun’s wife continued to send him text messages while locked in the store bathroom, and Hyun said he made sure she put her phone on silent while they corresponded.
The others who were squeezed into the bathroom with his wife and daughters were kind and helpful, Hyun said. For that, he was grateful.
“They were talking to my daughters, they were comforting them,” he said.
Just down the hall from Macy’s, at FYE, Manny Maldonado clearly heard the gunshot.
“I never heard what a gunshot sounded like before, and there were screams,” Maldonado, 24, of Danbury, said standing in the mall parking lot a couple of hours after he heard the noise. Maldonado said it’s not unusual for people to make loud noises in the mall, or act out. “This was a little more concerning than what the sounds are that we usually hear at the Danbury Fair mall. People were a lot more frantic.”
Maldonado and a co-worker went to the back of the store and into a storage area along with a small group of shoppers. The news of the shooting quickly spread on social media as people hid. Lexi Walsh, who works at American Eagle, said those in her store heard a “really loud bang” and they quickly headed toward a storage area, as well.
After searching the mall and not finding a suspect, police began letting people out in small groups, escorting them to the entrance. Ridenhour said police officials are working to identify a suspect and describe him as being in his “early teens.”
“Thank you to the patrons and workers at the Danbury Fair mall last night,” Ridenhour said in a video statement Thursday. “The overwhelming majority of you remained calm and patient during what I am sure was one of the most stressful times of your lives. Your cooperation was greatly appreciated and allowed us to get the situation under control as quickly as possible.”
When his wife and girls got home late that night, Hyun said they had a talk with the girls. One of his daughters is easily scared, and he said this was likely going to be a traumatic experience for her.
He reassured and praised his girls for being brave, telling them: “It could happen to anybody, but you were unfortunately there at the wrong time. But you did a great job being calm and being quiet.”
Hyun said his wife is doing better. “She’s shaken up, but she’s OK,” he said.
In reflecting on the event, Hyun called for more restrictions on guns.
“Of course it makes me upset and angry that this keeps happening in the United States,” he said. “Something has to be set up so that not just anybody can buy a gun if you’re angry.”