Lucero Mitzy Solis was at the Samsung Experience Store at The Galleria in Houston on Saturday afternoon when the sound of shouting came and a stampede of people appeared. Then Solis heard two words.
“The employees quickly ran back and allowed the few of us to run in with them,” said Solis.
Around 3:30 pm, Houston police began to receive reports of shots fired at the mall, which, according to several reports on social media, was packed with people. An hour later, the authorities found no gunshot victims or indicative evidence of shooting. But by then, according to witnesses, chaos, panic, fear and confusion had already moved from stores to parking garages and social media, where unconfirmed reports of an active sniper have circulated to thousands.
Even after the Houston police called the situation stable early on Saturday night, it was unclear what exactly set off the alarm.
“So far, we are still unaware of the situation that caused the chaos, but even if there was a firearm involved or not, I am sure that no one would have been waiting to find out,” said Solis. “To be honest, I don’t wish this fear on anyone.”
One witness described what appeared to be hundreds of people running in the same direction, some stumbling over each other. Several tried to make calls. Others wept.
Blayne Palomino, a 20-year-old girl who goes to school in Austin and was visiting the city this weekend, was on the second floor and hanging out with friends, walking towards the Apple store.
“We heard a commotion,” said Palomino. “What is happening?”
A group of people ran past.
“We just didn’t know what was going on,” said Palomino.
Palomino started running while people were screaming. Bad words, “Sniper, active sniper” and “There is a fight” between the parties that Palomino remembered.
“I was just in flight mode,” said Palomino. “If some people are running, I’m going to run.”
A spokesman for the mall referred a reporter to a statement by Houston police chief Art Acevedo about the authorities finding “no evidence of shots being fired”.
“The situation is stable without injury,” said Acevedo in a tweet. “Please always report suspicious activity to the authorities.”
Meanwhile, another tweet with a video of people running and shouting was seen almost 400,000 times before it was apparently removed.
At the Samsung store where Solis was buying new phones with the family, parents held their children and couples embraced.
“The thought in all of our minds was to run, it wasn’t until we felt safe that everyone started checking on each other,” said Solis. “It was scary.”