Their faces were filled with terror. It was another shooting, another gunman opening fire in a crowded place.
Twenty-four hours and thousands of miles from the Connecticut school shooting, shoppers at Newport Beach's Fashion Island escaped tragedy Saturday when police quickly subdued a gunman who fired 50 shots in the parking lot outside Macy’s.
No one was injured, and police arrested Garden Grove resident Marcos Sarinana Gurrola, 42, on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, said Kathy Lowe, a spokeswoman for the Newport Beach Police Department. Shoppers hid in dressing rooms, ducked down inside a movie theater and made a run for their cars, not knowing if the gunman intended to open fire on the crowd and with Friday’s Connecticut school shooting still raw for many people.
Newport Beach police received multiple calls of gunfire at 4:35 p.m. in the east side of the lot outside the Macy’s, at San Miguel and Newport Center drives, said Lowe. Bicycle officers who patrol the area arrived quickly and took the gunman into custody without incident, Lowe said.
“A male was shooting a weapon in the air and at the ground,” Lowe said. "The suspect was standing next to his vehicle at the time of the arrest and advised officers there was additional ammunition located in the trunk of his vehicle. As a precautionary measure, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department bomb squad was called in to remove the ammunition from the vehicle."
There were no injuries or property damage from the shots, but one person suffered minor injuries trying to get away from the area on foot, she said. Officers combed the area to make sure no one was injured or killed by the errant gunfire, added Lowe.
"It was an isolated incident," she said. "We don't have a motive at this time."
The investigation is ongoing, but police have no reason to believe there was anyone else involved, nor is there any indication the shooter intended to open fire inside the shopping center, said Lowe.
The mall was crowded with shoppers when the shots rang out.
According to witnesses, shoppers ran screaming into and out of the mall. A pair of women who saw the shooting ran into the nearby Macy’s, shouting to lock the doors and run for cover. Within three minutes, the mall level of the crowded store was empty, said one witness.
The crowd ran out an opposite exit past a Victoria’s Secret and Forever 21 and into a nearby Nordstrom.
Deena Nassef of Orange and Hanaa Escatel were walking into Macy’s with Escatel's 11-year-old son, Robert, as panicked shoppers spilled out screaming. The pair led the rush into Nordstrom.
“Everyone started to run out of the store and followed us to Nordstrom,” Nassef said. “Even as we were running, people were laughing at us. Everyone thought it might be a joke or a hoax.”
Once inside Nordstrom, the scene was chaotic.
“People were being trampled and pushed. Imagine 150 people trying to get through a door,” said Escatel. “Makeup brushes were flying everywhere.”
Store employees locked the doors and ushered the shoppers into the dressing rooms for refuge, said Nassef and Escatel.
“People were trying on clothes while we were waiting,” said Nassef. “People where trying to make the best of a bad situation.”
One wheelchair-bound shopper was celebrating her 100th birthday. Store employees handed out cookies and water, and the nervous shoppers sang Happy Birthday.
Patch reporter Tiffany Carter, who was at Macy’s when the shots were fired, said some shoppers hid in the movie theater, and police were patrolling the mall with guns drawn.
As rumors raced through the shopping center, many wondered if their friends and co-workers had been shot. Store employees conducted headcounts of their staffs, uncertain about the fate of employees who were under lockdown in neighboring boutiques.
The alleged gunman was captured within minutes of the shooting, and it didn’t take long for a semblance of normalcy to return to the shopping center. Macy’s reopened in less than two hours. By 9:15 p.m., Christmas carolers strolled through the outdoor mall.
See witness video from the shooting to the right.
-City News Service contributed to this report.
I figured your Santa Ana comments were racially motivated, and this new comment also points in that direction. You would be better off just letting it be.
And w/regard to the Newport shooter's name - I have never heard of a name like that before. It sounds very foreign to me. And I just wondered about his nationality. To me it sounds Italian. He looks like he might be of Italian descent. A perfectly legitimate and honest comment. Nothing wrong with it at all. I didn't even mention 'race'. You did that. I wanted to know his nationality. My God you're sensitive!
I was just curious whether he was a foreign national. A typical question that would pop into someone's mind with such a name. The article didn't mention it. I thought he may be Italian, but you say he's probably a south of the border heritage of some sort. Someone must know for sure. But, yes, the important thing is that no one was hurt. Thank God. Have a wonderful Christmas and New Years, Chinz!
But it does matter if a person happens to be a foreign national in Orange County shooting off a gun. That does matter and that's why I wanted to know if the suspect is an American or a foreign national. I agree that skin color or gender does not matter. But nationality does! And if he happens to be a foreign national perhaps that should be an indication that we should be more selective about who we let in. How's that for logic?
Taken directly from the article: "... police arrested Garden Grove resident Marcos Sarinana Gurrola, 42," Please don't try to claim they just updated that info. It was there the first time I read it, yesterday
But few people hesitate doing it. If you think about it - people should run AWAY from their cars. Instead, they run TOWARD them! Go figure, man. Go figure! None of them talk about banning cars - do they?
I rest. Have a wonderful day. I know you mean well.
Just because you claim to have a masters of science does that make you a know-all, be-all who can't possibly be wrong? I know people with advanced degrees who are as dumb as a rock. So I don't give people a benefit of the doubt when it comes to opinions based on their education. I use my common sense to form opinions. Not necessarily something I read in a book. The world has always operated based on the principle of national sovereignty. All nations (except for America) protect their borders vigorously and enforce immigration law domestically (except for America). When we allow criminals to infiltrate our neighborhoods it can only mean disaster. Locking arms and singing "kumbayah" with bordering nations sounds nice in theory. But in reality it's a train wreck waitng to happen. National sovereignty is where it's at. It's been that way since the days of Babylon.
Re-read my comments. I only clarify the context of what HAD BEEN reported AT THE TIME of posting. I never made ANY defense or excuse for what happened. To clarify, it wasn't a "shooting" per se, because the "shooter" never fired at another person and had no intention of hurting anyone. If you read ALL of the comments before mine, you'll find that most were running wild and exaggerating the dangers and the motivation behind this event. As for the Deputy Chief McGill denying it was a protest, I'm aware that most metropolitan police departments will often deny the motivation behind events like these to also deny perpetrators the kind of publicity or spotlight they might seek. It's no concern to the police, as the "shooter" will be charged either way. p.s. Why are all the Patch forums incredibly hostile? I thought they were supposedly more "neighborly" than most. So much for that notion!
Re-read my comments. I only clarify the context of what HAD BEEN reported AT THE TIME of posting. I never made ANY defense or excuse for what happened. To clarify, it wasn't a "shooting" per se, because the "shooter" never fired at another person and had no intention of hurting anyone. If you read ALL of the comments before mine, you'll find that most were running wild and exaggerating the dangers and the motivation behind this event. The CONTEXT to a story is often more important that what is reported. Nobody should think of this event as an intended "killing spree." It was, every sense, a ANTI-GUN PROTEST in light of the Conn. shootings. Why else would the "shooter" have have done this the day after, fire only into the air and call 911 on himself, with the police station not a mile down the road? THINK!
Don't be so ignorant or concerned with being politically correct that ignore the facts. Race was obviously important enough for the (often Liberal) media to include it in their reports.
Nice deflection. Don't bother responding. You really aren't a worthy opponent, and I feel sorry for you since you can't seem to help making a fool of yourself. Have a nice day.
If you cannot clearly see something that simple, there is really no point in discussing anything with you. If you are incapable of understanding that a person is just as dead when hit by round which is fired in the air as they are if shot on purpose, then there really isn't any use trying to explain it to you. BTW, are you aware that typing in all caps is considered yelling? It makes you look a little unhinged.
Why else would the "shooter" do such a thing the day after the Conn. shooting? Why would he only fire into the air of an empty parking lot and then call 911 on himself, with the police station not a mile down the road? Could it possibly be that it was an ANTI-GUN PROTEST, in light of recent events? Maybe the "shooter" wanted to scare people into action? Maybe he wanted to show people how easily he COULD have hurt many people? Think about that. Think about the sociopolitical angle, even if only hypothetically. Either way, this wasn't a REAL shooting -- there was never any intent to hurt anyone, only to make a public display. What the real motivation was is a question that, at the very least, deserves to be asked! THINK for yourself instead of waiting for CNN to tell you what to think, how to feel, and what you should do next. THINK for yourself.
So it's still a mystery. It could've been an active shooter that changed his mind and just decided not to go through it.