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Lehigh Valley Mall shooting: A look at incident as cops search for suspects, victim recalls almost being shot

A Whitehall Township couple said that their 18-year-old daughter, who works at Villa on the lower level near JC Penney, saw a gunman open fire outside the store

The Lehigh Valley Mall at the Lehigh Valley region in Pennsylvania was evacuated on Saturday, September 19, after four shots were fired on the lower level near a sporting goods store. The incident happened at around 5 pm ET. A Whitehall Township couple told The Morning Call that their 18-year-old daughter, who works at Villa, on the lower level near JC Penney, saw a gunman open fire outside the store. They were at home when their daughter called them from the store’s office, where she ran into after the shooting. She told her parents that she was standing at the store’s entrance, making sure shoppers were wearing masks upon entering, when she saw a man walk up and greet a young man who was waiting to go in.

Cheryl Furler, an associate at Bath & Body Works, told WFMZ that she was locked-in with about 50 other people in the stockroom. "We barricaded the doors. There's no way to lock the doors, even into the stockroom," she said. "So we took filing cabinets and pushed them up against the doors." Police Chief Michael Marks told WFMZ, "The responding officers needed to get into the mall and make sure there was no active gunfire occurring at the moment. As far as our secondary operations right now, that's just making sure that the mall is empty and we were able to account for everybody employed or at least at the mall at that point." "We're also asking for the public's help, If they have any cell phone video, video that was taken inside the mall of this incident," he said.

All the people who were inside the mall were asked to remain inside and around 8 pm the police started evacuating the mall. No victims were reported by the police. Another witness told The Morning call, “I will never forget the second of silence that happened after the shots, as we processed what we heard,” she said. “Then everyone started screaming. My husband slid behind a jewelry display in middle of mall and I army-crawled to him." Some people even shared the video of the incident on Twitter. A user wrote, "Gun shots were fired at lehigh valley mall." Another tagged President Donald Trump and wrote, "SHOOTING IN ALLENTOWN PENNSYLVANIA... LEHIGH VALLEY MALL @realDonaldTrump."

Another witness shared the incident and said, "Well I was almost shot at the Lehigh Valley mall... Was over by the stairs by the JC Penney and heard 4 loud bangs... I never ran so fast in my life. Hope everybody is okay and the shooter is taken away."

Another one paid condolences and said, "My condolences to anyone who was harmed in the Lehigh Valley Mall shooting, I mean no disrespect in this post. I was at the Lehigh Valley Mall about 1 hour to 30 minutes ago when the shooting happened. Luckily me and my most of my family weren't inside when it happened But my uncle was in there. We waited for him and when he jumped into our vehicle he said that he heard three shots then screaming and he ran to the exit. Fortunately we made it out safely."

While one surprised Netizen said, "first a bunch of kidnapping attempts, now an active shooter at the lehigh valley mall, like what is really going on???" Another shared a memory and said, "bawling my eyes out hearing about the lehigh valley mall. i used to go all the time, its really unfortunate to those who were hurt or killed. my condolences and prayers go out to you and your families."

While one warned people and said,"If you are anywhere near the ABE in PA ie Lehigh Valley Mall. Please be safe and check on your loved ones. We have an active Shooter at LVM."