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Witnesses Describe Chaotic, Scary Scene At Braintree Mall After Shooting

BRAINTREE (CBS) – It was chaos as people ran from South Shore Plaza after a shooting Friday afternoon.

It was an incredibly frightening situation for the people inside the mall, as people started running and hiding wherever they could.

"I saw a bunch of people running and screaming, and it was total chaos, so I went back in my store and called the police," said Brendan Doherty, a store manager at Abercrombie Kids.

SouthShoreShootingWitness
Donna Mayo was locked down in the Apple Store stockroom. (WBZ-TV)

Mall employees and shoppers described the moments after the shooting as a mix of terror and confusion.

"A lot of people were very stressed out and wanted to leave earlier than we did," said Doherty. He ushered shoppers into the stockroom. "We were in the stockroom for about an hour or two."

Donna Mayo was with her daughter inside the Apple Store when people started running. Apple employees quickly got them into the back of the store.

"We were locked in the back room where the inventory room was. It was just kind of shelter there until they had an update," Mayo said.

"I was really afraid. I just immediately started crying," said her daughter, Julia Mayo

Outside the mall, officers made two arrests. Customers at a nearby nail salon saw one of the suspects get loaded into an ambulance on Granite Street.

"We actually stood in the nail shop and saw them apprehend him because I guess he was down in the woods, so, yeah, it was kind of scary," said Tameka Johnson.

"Just that situation in general with everything going on, you know. Tensions are high, everyone's anxiety is high, and it's just, it felt like another thing," Donna Mayo said.

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