When the gunshot echoed through The Mall in Columbia, one food court employee thought the sound was Jenga blocks falling over. It wasn’t until he heard someone shout “Shooter!” and saw a mass of people heading for the exits that he knew something bad had happened.
Minutes earlier, the worker, who asked to remain anonymous out of concern for his safety, served someone who was wearing a ski mask and yellow sunglasses with white handles. The customer paid with cash and then went to the bathroom after consulting with another person wearing a ski mask, the worker said.
The customer asked the worker to hold onto his order while he went to the bathroom. He never came back.
“I only heard one shot, so we know that gun had a name on it,” said the food court worker, who later observed two others wearing ski masks walking swiftly with the crowd toward the exits.
Howard County Police continue to look for a suspect in connection with the fatal shooting of a teenager at the mall over the weekend. Police said the shooting was targeted, and they believe only one shooter was involved and just one shot was fired. The investigation is ongoing.
The gunman is believed to be a young male in his teens or 20s, police spokesperson Sherry Llewellyn said Monday. He was wearing all dark clothing, including a hooded sweatshirt, and his face was partially covered, police said.
Officers responded to reports of gunfire in the mall’s food court early Saturday evening. When officers arrived, they found a deceased teen. The victim was later identified as Angelo Little, 17, of Columbia.
Little was a student at the Homewood Center in Ellicott City, Principal Dwayne Williams said in an email Sunday to the school community. He encouraged parents and guardians to listen to their children’s thoughts and feelings, adding that families could reach out to the school if students needed additional support.
Funeral arrangements and services were not immediately known, Williams said in the email, but the school’s front office was accepting cards for Little’s family. He asked for the school community to respect the family’s privacy.
Monday afternoon, Jen, an employee at Vans shoe store on the second floor who asked to be referred to by her first name only for safety reasons, said she and her coworker looked over the railing and she saw people running in a panic.
Jen heard the loud boom, but dismissed it as a table falling down. Then the Vans store filled with people hiding in fear.
“We were all safe, just internally I was scared to close the [security] gate,” she said.
She and her manager closed the security gate while they waited for any news. She checked social media and saw that people were saying the shooter was still inside. This turned out to be false, but she didn’t know at the time.
After 90 minutes of lockdown, the employee said, police escorted Jen, her colleagues and store customers out. “I would feel safer if there was more security and a protocol about situations like this,” she said.
Brookfield Properties, the mall’s owner, declined to comment Monday on the shooting. “Apologies for the delay, but we are not at liberty to discuss any of the details publicly because to do so may interfere with the police investigation.”
Downstairs, the food court worker didn’t observe a security guard nearby at the time of the shooting. He saw a guard run downstairs from the upper level to the scene.
Within minutes, multiple local police officers were inside the mall with riot shields and bulletproof vests, he said.
The mall has the same five to six security guards patrolling the mall, Jen said.
In spring 2023, the mall’s management added security guards to implement a new “parental guidance required” program for those ages 17 and under after 4 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. They are trained public safety officers, wearing bright yellow uniforms that say “Security,” stationed at each entrance to the mall to check IDs of shoppers who appear to be younger than 18.
The increased security presence and required adult supervision followed months of complaints about teen “chaos.”
Those who visited the mall Saturday night remained shaken by the events.
Nicole Dungee said she had just ordered food at Five Guys for herself and her 15-year-old son and niece. They were waiting for their order at a table in the food court.
“There was a bang, and then just mayhem,” she said.
Dungee was confused. She thought people just imagined they heard a gunshot — it couldn’t have been an actual shot. Then she watched saw people fleeing.
Suddenly, she was slammed to the ground.
People were falling over her, trying to escape as fast as possible.
“I got up with everyone else and we just ran,” she said.
Her son ran, fast, leaving his phone behind on the table. Dungee repeatedly phoned him, but he didn’t pick up.
Sshe spotted her niece’s bright blue Crocs and followed them out into the parking lot, where she wandered aimlessly searching for her son.
She said shootings happen so often now that, “I guess it’s just my turn to live that.”
Finally reunited with her son and niece, she saw the Five Guys worker who took their order. The server apologized that they never got their food.
Dungee said her experience was awful and terrifying. She doesn’t want to compare it to the loss of life, but said she believes the trauma will stay with many who were there.
“The mayhem that happened in that food court in Columbia at 6 p.m. is something I think a lot of people will experience in their lives, unfortunately,” she said.
In December 2020, there was a fatal shooting in the parking lot at The Mall in Columbia, according to police. In 2014, three people died in a shooting at the mall, including the shooter.
Stephanie Forbi shopped at the mall on Monday, her second visit in two days. After hearing about the fatal shooting, she said she didn’t feel safe going tanymore and wouldn’t return.
Years ago, she said, she witnessed someone brutally attacked at a shopping center in Laurel, which had prompted her to stay away from large retail locations.
“Even though we have security around, the mall is not safe,” Forbi said.
Police are offering a reward of up to $5,000 for tips that lead to an arrest. Anyone with information should contact police at 410-313-STOP or HCPDcrimetips@howardcountymd.gov.
