Бывшая сотрудница молла Хейвуд рассказала о панике во время стрельбы и отсутствии защиты со стороны администрации

'That view haunts me to this day': Former Haywood Mall employee speaks out after June shooting A former employee at the Haywood Mall in Greenville said she quit her job shortly after a shooting erupted outside her storefront, feeling unsafe and unsupported by mall management. Anarella Garrido worked at a jewelry store near the plaza where shots rang out on June 13, injuring two people: one suspect and the other a bystander. She remembers shattered glass and blood. "I'm working, helping a customer, then I hear one of the shots, then I hear more. All we do is get on the floor and run to the back," Garrido said. Garrido crawled into the back office and hid with workers and customers, including someone's baby. She said the group had to barricade the door because the storefront was not bulletproof glass and there was no lock on the office door. "It was the longest minutes of my life," Garrido said. WYFF News 4 obtained a total of 16 911 calls and nearly 100 pages' worth of incident reports from the city of Greenville detailing the chaos. Here is how witnesses inside the mall described the situation to dispatchers: "Guys look like they were shooting at the chandeliers because they were on the second floor, blowing up." "I just saw people running." "Everyone just came flying down the escalator." "We have somebody back here who is armed. It's a customer." "My daughter is at the Greenville mall, and there is an active shooter. My daughter is locked in the bathroom with her daughter." "Haywood Mall. Shots Fired." "Please come pick us up." Dispatchers told callers units were on the way to help and said they were receiving "a lot of calls" and were trying to "balance." When asked what callers should do, dispatchers said, "We're still on scene trying to figure out the situation. It's completely up to you how you want to go about this." In one 911 call, you can hear alarms blaring and what appears to be an officer escorting customers: "I want everybody to have their hands on top of their heads." Garrido, 19, was escorted out of the store by law enforcement in a line. She was accompanied by several of her coworkers, who she said were in their teens. "When we went out, it was terrifying. We saw blood on the floor," Garrido said. "That view just haunts me to this day." Simon Property Group, the leadership over the mall, announced they would be opening for normal hours of operation the next day. Garrido said she was told she had to work. She quit shortly after. "That's just disrespectful for the victims, for the employees, for everybody that was present. I still get nightmares to this day. I mean, I hear a loud noise, I hear something, and I freak out. I haven't stepped foot at the mall because I just don't want to be there," Garrido said. Greenville City police Chief Howie Thompson shared his thoughts on the shooting on July 23, more than a month after the shooting took place. "I'm glad nobody was killed there. People need to abide by the law. You talk about wanting to have accountability; I want accountability. I want people to follow the law. I want people not to carry guns in a mall," Thompson said. "That is not city property. And so that becomes two different things. I can't just go in and take over a mall." Records show the city of Greenville has taken 25 calls for service at the mall between January 2025 and June 2026 related to weapons. This includes possessions, discharges, disturbances, domestic use and assaults. The incident reports are heavily redacted and do not include a description of the weapons used in the shooting. The incident is labeled as "Possibly Gang Related." Haywood Mall's code of conduct lists a "no weapons" rule. It does not have state-mandated signage visibly posted at entrances. Andy Sexton, a former law enforcement officer and co-founder of Proactive Response Group, describes the typical protocol from leadership following these incidents. "We would immediately want a corporate response from the property management," Sexton said. "Where do we miss? What did we do or not do that allowed this to happen? And then what can we do in the future to learn from this? How are we going to communicate that to the public, to rebuild that confidence and prevent it from happening again?" Sexton said this can be effective compared to visual protective measures, including law enforcement-manned entrances, weapons detectors, clear bag or checked bag policies. He adds those options are most likely not feasible for cost and operational reasons. "It's just not reasonable. The idea that they're going to be something that prevents someone from getting a gun into that facility is not necessarily true," Sexton said. Since the shooting, WYFF News 4 has visited the mall multiple times. K-9 units and additional security have been noted. Simon corporate has not responded to phone calls, emails or in-person requests for comment from WYFF News 4. Keep up with what's happening around our area by downloading the WYFF News 4 app on the App Store or Google Play.