The Monroeville Mall was the scene of a chaotic shooting on Saturday, and one NFL star had a firsthand view of the terrifying scene.
Police said a gunman opened fire at the Pittsburgh-area shopping center in a targeted attack, wounding two men and a woman. Witnesses told Action News 4 that a man took out a gun and pointed it “at a group of people” before opening fire.
One of those one the scene of the Monroeville Mall shooting was NFL quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who tweeted about the incident afterward.
“D**n was just in monroeville mall and just saw 2 ppl get shot. They are letting guns go in there,” Pryor wrote on Twitter in a message that was later deleted.
Other witnesses said that chaos erupted once the gunshots rang out.
“I grabbed my friend, and said, let’s go, and said, we’re out of here,” Mitchell Swann, 18, of Rankin, told the Pittsburgh-Tribune Review.
This was not the first time that violence erupted at the Monroeville Mall. Back in December, the mall was forced to close early after hundreds of teens gathered and began fighting . Mall employees said the group of teens began arriving at 5 p.m. on December 26, with fights starting to break out at 8 p.m.
Several stores went into lockdown during the brawls, and least two people were taken to a nearby hospital with injuries.
The fights led mall administrators and local officials look at ways to improve security.
“We’re increasing officers on Friday and Saturday night. We’re going to go (with) up to four officers from our normal one,” said Police Chief Doug Cole.
Police also opened a small outpost in the Monroeville Mall, vowing to devote more resources to keeping the mall safe.
“We’re relocating that and getting that put together, and we’re going to move forward with that on a little quicker pace than it’s been going,” said Cole.
Weapons are also banned at the mall, with official rules stating, “Carrying or displaying weapons of any kind except those carried by certified law enforcement officers in the performance of their duties.”
Police have still not named the victims in the Monroeville Mall shooting, and the shooter reportedly remains at large.
[Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons ]
