CHESAPEAKE, Va.— News 3 is hearing from some of the employees and shoppers who were at Greenbrier Mall in Chesapeake Saturday night when a reported shooting in the parking lot prompted an evacuation.
It came at a time when many are still on edge following the Nov. 22 mass shooting at the Sam's Circle Walmart that left six people dead.
"I was just nervous, I didn't know what to think," said one person who was working when Greenbrier Mall was evacuated Saturday night. "It was a bunch of emotions at one time, I didn't know how to process it."
Police said they were called around 8:15 p.m. for a shooting off Greenbrier Parkway. When they got there, they found a crime scene in the parking lot near the old Sears building.
"I was ringing up a customer, and I heard screaming outside," the employee said. "I thought it was a fight."
The shooting was believed to be an isolated incident, and no injuries or fatalities were reported, Chesapeake police said. The mall was evacuated as a precaution.
"We all started running to the back and we got into the stock room and closed the gate. We barricaded the stock room door," the employee said.
News 3 reporter Kelsey Jones also spoke with a store employee at Kay Jewelers.
"We knew it was a little serious because the officers had weapons on them, and they were just checking out the mall making sure whatever went down wasn't inside of the mall," the employee said.
Shoppers said they have a heightened sense of awareness after last month's shooting at Walmart, and they've had enough.
"I just don't understand why this is happening and why people think that they have to bring out the guns and continue with the violence," said shopper Theresa McAndrews.
