Local couple shares their story of shooting at Opry Mills mall
JACKSON, Tenn. — A 22-year-old man is dead and a suspect is in custody after a shooting Thursday afternoon at the Opry Mills mall in Nashville. WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News reporter Amanda Gerry got a chance to sit down with a man and his pregnant fiancee who were there.
“Right as we turned around to walk back in, we heard a loud bang,” shooting witness Roman Comer said.
The couple from Three Way describe a frightening situation as they heard shots fired while walking around Opry Mills mall.
“At that point, we didn’t know what was going on, if it was an active shooter,” Abigail Rininger, Comer’s fiancee, said. “Really, we didn’t know anything. We just knew that someone was shooting, and we didn’t know which direction to run in, where it was shooting from.”
The Metro Nashville Police Department said they responded around 2:30 p.m. Thursday to a report of shots fired.
“During this altercation, which involved some pushing and shoving, a gun was pulled and at least two shots were fired inside the mall,” said Don Aaron, public affairs manager for the Metro Nashville Police Department.
The couple said when they realized what was happening, they had to decide what to do next and had to decide fast.
“You don’t know what direction is safe and where safety is,” Rininger said. “You don’t know if you need to crouch down, or you need to hide, or if you need to go this way or that way.”
They say shoppers were screaming, crouching to the ground and hiding in closets.
“He’s a nurse, so he wanted to turn around so bad and see what was going on and help the people out, but at the same time he has his pregnant fiancee with him,” Rininger said. “So he had this dilemma in his head like, ‘do I need to go help them or do I need to go get her to safety.'”
The couple says they are thankful for a Good Samaritan who drove them to their car and for the quick action of first responders.
“I think they went to every entrance,” Rininger said. “I guess just for safety reasons.”
“There was somebody covering every area of that facility within 10 minutes of it happening,” Comer said.
They say this experience has reminded them to always be aware of your surroundings.
“Don’t ever take life for granted, and that’s ultimately what it’s all about, is understanding that this life is only temporary for all of us, and anything could happen at any given moment,” Comer said.
The couple said following recent shootings, they do not consider the area to be more dangerous. They said they enjoy their trips to Nashville and believe that this incident just happened at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Metro Nashville police said following the shooting, the 22-year-old suspect surrendered to a retired officer working at the mall.
