COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Shoppers were forced to drop everything as gunfire erupted in Cumberland Mall in Cobb County on Saturday. Now, authorities are trying to help them retrieve everything they left.
The shooting happened early Saturday during one of the last weekends before Christmas with many people milling about the mall's 135 stores. The sound of gunfire didn't leave them much time to collect their belongings.
"There were multiple items that were left behind by people that were leaving the mall," Officer Sarah O'Hara said. "Workers, people that were patrons here."
Now, those items are now being collected by mall security for shoppers to pick up.
"If you dropped anything while you were here, I greatly urge you to call the mall security dispatch center," O'Hara said.
She added that they can be reached at 770-435-2209 and that shoppers can come to retrieve their items or call this dispatch lines to see if they were collected.
"Just make sure that you give a complete description of the item," Officer O'Hara said. "If it's a cell phone, make sure you have the passcode to be able to open it and any other identifying information that might be able to identify your items out of the copious amounts of items that were left behind."
Meanwhile, the mall itself was expected to reopen at 4:30 p.m. - though the food court will remain closed amid the shooting investigation.
According to police, the shooting that first caused the mass panic doesn't appear to have been random. O'Hara said that an argument in the food court that escalated into gunfire.
As such, police stressed this was not an "active shooter" situation since the two people involved knew each other and the gunfire had a specific target.
One person, a man, was shot and has since been rushed into surgery but police said he is expected to survive the gunshot.
Police reported no other injuries though some requested medical checks.
"I know that there were some people that were checked out by EMS and most of that was related to panic attacks, women that were pregnant, etcetera," O'Hara said.
Police haven't released any details regarding the shooter in the incident other than the fact that he got away.
MORE HEADLINES