Shooting At Arbor Place This Morning

Apparently someone tried to rob a Brinks truck--this morning!  The AJC reports it happened around 11:45 a.m.  The shooting happened outside Johnny Rocket's.  A witness interviewed by the AJC estimates she heard nine shots fired.  I didn't find out about this until now because I had to work today.  I called my mother first, because she works at the mall, and she was busy but sounded all right.  I may be able to get more details from her later.  A witness reported on the Douglasville message board on Topix.com said the guard was shot in the head.  The mall was locked down for a couple of hours, then allowed to reopen.

And--this is the insane thing--it sounds like they're still looking for a suspect because all schools were put on a "code yellow" alert which locked all exterior doors and no students were allowed outside.  One suspect was shot and taken to Grady.  The guard was taken to a local hospital, and since we only have a couple in the area, it's most likely either Wellstar Douglas or Tanner in Villa Rica.

This marks the second crime at the mall in the last two weeks.  Obviously something needs to happen in the mall so security will be increased.  I've been to the mall.  Most of the security I've seen don't look like they could run very fast.  I think, especially during the Christmas season, we need off-duty police officers in the mall, not mall security.  Maybe we need a police precinct in the mall or just outside the mall (or both).  But I do know one thing--it will be quite awhile before I go back to Arbor Place.  When there is more police presence at the mall, I may consider returning there to shop.  Until then I'll do my shopping elsewhere.