North Star Mall employees, shoppers describe the scene during active manhunt

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brandylinbaby: THE MALL IS ON LOCKDOWN , SERIOUSLY I CANT DIE ON MY BIRTHDAY

jmz68tx: Lots of police presence going on now at North Star mall. Near Macy’s, JcPenny parking lot garage. Don’t forget today is Valentine’s Day and get your love one that special gift

greenTetrahedron: possible shooter, im there now. weve been herded into the storage room in the jc penny, and its locked down.

LorenaCassie: Just when I thought the shootings were over & a guy brings a gun to North Star so now we are on lock down smh

TayHud82: Was about to walk in to North Star until I seen a whole lot of 12 at the entrance!

While local, state and federal agents surrounded North Star Mall Thursday afternoon during a massive manhunt, customers and employees inside the mall were were a mixture of panic and calm.

Shoppers used Twitter, Instagram and Reddit to describe the scene inside. One Reddit user mentioned being “herded” into a JCPenny storage room, others spoke of a large police presence and some posted panicked tweets discouraging people from heading to the area.

A mall employee, who declined to be identified, told mySA.com at about 3:30 p.m. that many of the stores in the area around JCPenny had closed their doors in response to the active search, including the Apple store.

RELATED: SAPD, DPS, feds surround North Star Mall in massive manhunt

An associate with JCPenny said certain entrances to the store were placed on lockdown because of a possible active shooter situation.

Despite that possibility, mall-goers continued shopping and were free to roam about the premises at around 4 p.m., just before law enforcement cleared the scene

An assistant manager at Spencer’s at North Star Mall, who declined to give her name, said mall security officers told them the mall’s Northwest parking garage had been locked down but told store managers they could stay open.

Calls and emails to North Star Mall managers and General Growth Properties Inc., the real estate investment trust that owns North Star Mall, were not immediately returned.

Staff writers Tyler White, Caleb Downs and Joshua Fechter contributed to this report.

mmendoza@mysa.com

Twitter: @MaddySkye

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