Gunman shoots one at California shopping mall forcing police staff and customers to shelter in place

San Francisco Bay Area police are investigating a shooting at a shopping mall outside San Jose on Saturday evening.  

Employees and customers inside the Great Mall in Milpitas were asked to shelter in place as officers responded to the situation according to the Milpitas Police Department.

‘Search teams are systematically searching all stores that were sheltering in place, and will be escorting employees and customers out into the parking lot,’ Milpitas Police said in a tweet. ‘Officers and detectives remain on scene and are actively investigating this incident.’  

Milpitas Police Department Lt. Tyler Jamison would not comment on the condition of the victim or the whereabouts of the suspect.

‘Right now, we’re not releasing any more information,’ he said to the LA Times. ‘We’re having everyone shelter in place until officers finish their investigation and their search.’

Personnel from the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the scene which lies about 8 miles north of downtown San Jose. 

‘We started running,’ witness Angelo Palma said to NBC News. ‘Everyone starts running. A shooting, everyone just started running. People were running forward, people were running back. People were falling. It was hectic.’