NO BULLET HOLES - GREENWOOD MALL FAKE SHOOTING

Video Transcript:

Yeah, thank you for monitoring out the ITMA today. The Greenwood Park Mall opened to the public less than 48 hours after three people were murdered in the food court. ITMA's Richard Essex went through the mall today. He's live tonight in Greenwood with that story, Richard. Well, the mall doors were opened by 11 o'clock this morning and I was surprised at how many people were here. I walked through the mall to get a sense of the mood of the people that were inside and what I found were a lot of anxious employees and retailers that are open for business. It's still scary, but it's scary anywhere. Just before 11 this morning, the Greenwood Park Mall parking lot had plenty of people. The mall owners do not allow us to openly videotape inside the mall. When I walked into the mall, I had expected to see stores closed, windows boarded up, and police crime scene tape in the food court area. What I found was a handful of stores had not opened for the day. The big box retail stores like Dick's Sporting Goods and Von Mar and JCPenney were open. The main entrance to the mall leads into a long hallway that intersects with others. At that intersection, you can see the food court off to the right. It is at that point you begin to smell the offerings of the mall food vendors. I expected to find all the restaurants close and mall security guard in the area to keep people away. What I found was the opposite, the pizza place, subway, Chick-fil-A, and all of the other restaurants were open for business. There are no signs that 34 bullets were fired inside of this space less than 48 hours ago. I could not find one bullet hole in any of the walls or the ceiling. There are some cracks in the floor tile, but it is hard to tell if a bullet or years of use caused the cracks. The restroom where the suspect hit a backpack with another rifle and ammo and tried to dispose of his phone is open. Coming back outside into the sunshine and heat, the parking lot was acted and people making their way into the mall. Nancy Roland of Greenwood says she's a little anxious coming back in. You just can't live your life in fear. The only obvious side of violence that I could find was a collection of teddy bears and flowers that have been placed outside of the entrance to the food court back behind Dick's sporting goods. Now, one of the employees and one of the stores inside told me that security has more than doubled since Sunday. In Greenwood, Richard S.X. with TV, IT 8.