Black Friday shoppers were forced to seek shelter after shots were fired at the Westfield Valley Fair shopping center in Santa Clara, wounding two, police said.
Two people were taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds, according to the San Jose Police Department, which did not immediately release any other information.
Police at the Westfield Valley Fair Mall after a shooting on Black Friday.
(Shawn Kulasingham)
Shawn Kulasingham, 23, was at the mall with his family when he said he heard a loud bang around 5:35 p.m. and then saw a “sea of humans” running in all directions 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 closest store that seemed safe, an Abercrombie & Fitch. They hid behind coat racks and closets as people panicked, he said.
They spent about 20 minutes inside the store before staff asked them to leave single file with a police escort. Parking was a disaster, Kulasingham said, and he forgot his Black Friday haul (a coat he had bought) at the Abercrombie store.
“The fear was palpable. It's really hard to have this happen during the holiday season,” said Kulasingham, a former congressional intern. A shooting at his hometown mall coupled with the recent killing of a National Guard member in D.C. was a lot to bear, he said.
At least 20 customers were led to the storage closets at Bloomingdales by store security along with Bilal Zuberi and his wife, who posted about the incident on
They tried not to panic and not talk about the shooting because there were children sheltering with them, Zuberi said.
Police gave permission to leave the store and the mall around 7 p.m., he said. Traffic was backed up at all exits as hundreds of people tried to leave, he said.
“Thankful for the police, first responders and mall staff who may have been scared but stepped up to guide people to safety, manned the escalators so no one could cross the floors, etc.,” X responded in a direct message to the Times.
Customers at Westfield Valley Mall leave after the shooting.
(Shawn Kulasingham)
Emergency calls to the police and fire departments at 5:55 p.m. said two or three people were injured and the shooter was still at large. Multiple calls beginning around 5:35 p.m. detailed that several 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 were no longer any active shooters.
Officers arrived to a chaotic scene, according to their radio transmissions.
“We have several people running across the street,” a lifeguard said over the radio. Fleeing customers caused a traffic jam while crossing a street near the shopping center.
Police said the shooting appeared to be an isolated incident and that people should avoid the area.
