Security expert on mall safety after weekend shelter-in-place at SouthPark Mall

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - In just a few days, shopping malls will be slammed with people trying to catch shopping deals for the holiday. For others, they may have second thoughts about the mall after the chaos at South Park this week.

After a mass panic at South Park Mall this weekend, WBTV’s security analysis, Karl de la Guerra said the mall responded appropriately.

“One of the things I was glad to see, if you’re going to err, err on the side of safety, and when a report comes in, a lot times you cannot wait to make sure it’s verified exactly what it is,” said de la Guerra.

WBTV obtained the incident report that shows the initial report call to 911 stated shots were fired, but that was later found to be false.

Details show a person lost their teeth during the incident and was not treated by first responders.

Witnesses told WBTV Saturday, this was caused by a man inside H&M threatening to shoot someone inside the store.

de la Guerra said, “If you look at what folks are facing nowadays in America, you can’t go into a public place anymore, what we call a soft target, a mall, a church, a stadium, whatever it might be without having that on the back of your mind.”

WBTV reached out to SouthPark Mall to learn more about their security during the holiday and the incident this past weekend but has yet to hear back from them. de la Guerra said specifics are often kept under wraps by malls.

“Malls do put a close hold on their security protocols simply because you don’t want the bad guys to know everything that you have in place at a mall to be able to protect it,” said de la Guerra.

The security analyst said as malls expect more shoppers during the holidays, they typically make security adjustments to make sure people are safe.

de la Guerra said, “malls do have a variety of programs that they put in place during the holiday season, increasing security patrols in the parking lot, increasing off-duty law enforcement presence in the mall itself.”

The security expert tells WBTV while there’s a responsibility for the mall to protect shoppers, the best thing is your own awareness and efforts to keep you and your loved ones safe.

“There’s no reason for anybody to be panicked, there’s no reason for anybody to be scared or afraid to go out in public, that’s not the point, the point is to simply remain vigilant of where you are,” said de la Guerra.

Our security expert said people should know where the security office is and the closest exits when going to the mall. If a shelter-in-place situation happens, evacuate with the crowd, inside a store and exit when you feel safe or instructed to do so by law enforcement.

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