Shooter Fires Gun Outside Mall, Sparks Mass Panic

Newport Beach police arrest 42-year-old security guard
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 16, 2012 3:27 PM CST
Shooter Fires Gun Outside Mall, Sparks Mass Panic
Orange County Sheriff deputies patrol at Fashion Island mall in Newport Beach Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012 after witnesses reported multiple shots being fired in one of the parking lots.   (AP Photo/The Orange County Register, Rose Palmisano)

Police in Newport Beach, Calif., arrested a man yesterday for allegedly firing off about 50 rounds outside a shopping mall and causing mass panic, the Orange County Register reports. Police say Marcos Gurrola, a 42-year-old licensed security guard, shot his handgun in the air outside Macy's at Fashion Island mall. Bike officers grabbed him as he was trying to get in a white Volvo, reports the Daily Pilot. A handgun and more than 50 rounds of ammunition were recovered at the scene.

A witness said she first thought Gurrola was kidding around: "I thought it was a toy," she said. "Oh my God. It was a real gun." Cries of "shooter" and "shots fired" sent people stampeding through the mall, seeking refuge in stores and a movie theater. Some businesses hid patrons in dressings rooms and a storage area, where witnesses said they were shaking and crying. "With what happened in Connecticut, we were freaking out," said one shopper. One person suffered a minor injury and was treated and released at the mall. (More mall shooter stories.)

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