Newport Beach, CA — A man was arrested after firing about 50 shots in a California parking lot on Saturday. The man, who fired the shots at a Southern California shopping mall, prompted a lockdown of stores, which were crowded with holiday shoppers.
The man, Marcos Gurrola, 42, was taken into custody almost immediately by bicycle police officers charged with patrolling the open-air Fashion Island mall, reports ABC News .
Gurrola did not injure anyone in the incident, but the gunfire did cause a wide amount of panic, especially in light of the Oregon mall shooting last week, along with the Connecticut school shooting on Friday.
The mall was crowded when, as police spokeswoman Cathy Lowe stated, Gurrola fired into the air and onto the ground in the parking lot next to a Macy’s department store.
Sven Maric, who was celebrating his wife’s birthday at a nearby restaurant patio near the shooting, stated, “It’s a miracle nobody got injured. The bullets had to land somewhere, and he shot so many.” The Washington Post notes that police spokeswoman Lowe stated that some stores volunteered to close their doors temporarily while police investigated the man who fired shots in the parking lot.
Bret McGaughey, 22, who lives in Laguna Beach, stated that he was at the Apple store with his mom when nearby shoppers ran into the rear of the store and employees locked the front entrance. By his estimate, about 100 people stayed in the back of the Apple store until employees announced it was safe to come out.
The man who fired shots in the California parking lot was arrested for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon.
The video below is raw footage of the shooting incident.
