Police Still Searching For Suspect After Shots Fired Inside Lehigh Valley Mall, No Injuries Reported
WHITEHALL, Pa. (CBS) -- The Lehigh Valley Mall in Whitehall Township went on lockdown around 5 p.m. Saturday, when police received several reports of shots fired on the lower level near Modell's Sporting Goods.
"We were just ready to leave and I was going to go into the final store, and that's when we heard three loud gunshots like right in front of us and everybody started scattering," said Jordan Cannon, who was visiting the mall from The Bronx, New York.
Despite a massive police response led by Whitehall Township, the shooter had still not been located once officers finished clearing the mall hours later.
"Our primary mission right now is making sure everybody is safe and sound, and that we're able to reunite people with their families as we go forward here and then find the perpetrators that committed this," said Chief Michael Marks of the Whitehall Township Police Department.
Marks said investigators are reviewing mall surveillance video in hopes of identifying a suspect or suspects, but that officers did find several shell casings showing evidence of the shooting.
"We don't have any description that I can give out right now, but as soon as I have it, you will have it," he told reporters in a news conference Saturday evening.
There were no reported injuries, but the experience has left people who were in the mall scared and shaken.
"I'm going to have this embedded fear in my mind, next time I walk out of Charlotte Russe, am I going to be walking down the hall and 'Bang, bang, bang?' I can't get it out of my head," said shopper Chloe Haasz.
Whitehall Township police are asking anyone who was inside the mall during the shooting to call 610-437-3042 and share any cell phone videos they may have taken with investigators.
