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Questions about safety after Beachwood Place mall shooting

We looked into questions about safety at Beachwood Place, after a man was shot there this weekend. The incident left hundreds of shoppers shaken up.

WKYC Channel 3 News looked into questions about safety at Beachwood Place, after a man was shot there this weekend. The incident left hundreds of shoppers shaken up.

Looking through police records in the last five years, Channel 3 found that 2015 was the most violent year for Beachwood Place. About 20 calls were made about fights or other violence taking place at the shopping center.

However, in more recent years, there were less than a dozen reports made per year. Despite the shopping center making quite a few headlines, the number of violent crimes overall is not going up year after year there.

The Channel 3 News team also obtained the 911 call from a woman who witnessed this latest shooting.

“I am at Beachwood mall, and someone is shooting,” said a woman, whose voice was clearly shaking with fear. “Heard like three or four shots.”

Another shopper talked about her experience. Laura Cowan explained how the mall and police responded.

According to Cowan, the mall had security measures in place and knew what to do.

“Sales clerk from Lush pulled us into her location, and she shut the doors and pulled the screens, the gate down and had us go back in the storage room,” she said.

At first, Cowan said she was shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue when the shooting happened right outside. She immediately noticed something was off.

“Two sales clerks in particular,” said Cowan. “She had a crazy look on her face. She screamed, shooter, shooter, shooter!"

Then, Cowan said she and her daughter ran out of Saks.

“My heart was pounding. Everyone was scared to death,” said Cowan.

Inside the storage room at Lush Cosmetics, she took pictures, while waiting for about half an hour. During that time, Cowan said the staff made her feel safe.

“They were excellent. I mean, they arrived right on time, and they escort us out the store, and they said it was cleared to go. They told us to go straight out to the parking lot to your car,” she said.

At the same time, Cowan said this latest scare has put her on edge.

“Now when you go somewhere, you have to watch your exits and leave when something happens. It could happen anywhere, it can happen in a concert. It can happen anywhere you go these days,” she said.

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