Pulled the Trigger Before Driving a Car

The Timeline: August 12, 2021

Where is my sister? Is she working at the mall today? Are my peers okay?

Those were my thoughts when I learned that a shooting had just happened at the Danbury Fair Mall -- which I had left only 30 minutes before. I had missed it narrowly.

6:34p.m.: I leave my job at Apple at the Danbury Fair Mall after my shift at 6:00 to meet my friend at Red Rooster in Ridgefield to celebrate the last weeks of summer.

7:02: My sister sends me a message: Shots are heard in the Danbury Fair Mall next to the store I work at, in between Macys and the Mall entrance.

7:03: The mall goes into lockdown.

7:05: Text from my sister: I am not working today, I am in Boston.

7:10: My peers are safe in shelter while the mall is lockdown.

8:00: Breaking news reported: "Police: Girl, 15, shot after Danbury mall altercation" https://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Police-Shots-fired-at-Danbury-Fair-mall-16381091.php

The story: Reports say that an altercation occurred inside the mall near Macys involving at least 8 people. “One person pulled out a gun and fired at least one shot, possibly two, aiming for someone in the group and wounding the girl.”

11:00p.m.: Mall workers are released.

The aftermath: How many more? Luck and BOGO appetizers at the Red Rooster saved me from the most traumatic experience of my life. I lived through the uncertainty of another shooting. What happens after the lockdown? I worked a full-shift the day after, expecting the police to be surveilling the premises. The mall managers should have closed the store. Why did our store still open? Security was not increased, and I was expected to smile and wave to customers without hesitation. It felt like a home invasion, and the integrity of our store was compromised. But no one cared. I walked into the manager's office and sat down to exhale, because the thought of someone walking in with a gun at any moment ,petrified me and my peers. The air felt like it suffocated me instead of providing me oxygen. Where was the security in knowing that even if a threat was possible, there would be precaution?

The story people don’t know: This was a gang related incident and the girl that was shot was involved in the altercation. The shooter was 14 years old, and had been involved in violent situations in the past. My friend lived down the road from him, and grew up with his family. My friend, 21 years old, told me that he was like a cousin to her. Most recently, his parents had debated on sending him to military school because of his behavioral disorders, and they were not surprised to find out this happened. His deranged identity was obvious, but it was not until he pulled a trigger that those around him acted. So where was his background check for the gun he carried with him? Let’s talk about stricter gun laws, when someone can shoot a bullet before they can drive a car.

It’s too easy. It’s too easy to have a gun, and it is too easy to walk in to a public setting and pull the trigger. I hope I never live to hear the sound of a gun so close to me that the noise can be replayed in my head. Unfortunately, some of my teammates have to live with that. I walk into the mall every day, knowing the facts of the event are more gruesome than the story that is portrayed. Every incident is considered “isolated”, until every person in a room can recall the timeline of at least 1 shooting in their lifetime. Every shooting is an "outlier", but put together it is a trend calling for stricter gun laws.