Business & Tech
Willowbrook Shoppers Feel Safe Days After Garden State Plaza Shooting
Shoppers said incident in Bergen County mall isn't going to stop them from visiting their favorite stores.
Shoppers said they feel safe at the Willowbrook Mall only a few days after a gunman opened fire and took his own life at the Garden State Plaza.
“I think it’s safe here. It doesn’t mean that what happened there, can’t happen here,” said Karen Lowell, as she walked back to her car Wednesday afternoon. “What happened was scary, but it could happen anywhere.”
Police found the body of Richard Shoop in a storage area at the Garden State Plaza early Tuesday morning. Shoop entered the mall with a .22 caliber rifle modified to look similar to an AK-47, Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said.
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Thousands of people evacuated the mall after Shoop, dressed in black and warning a motorcycle helmet, fired at least six rounds in a concourse area, Molinelli said. There were no reported injuries.
Wayne Police Chief John Reardon and Gil Bankston, senior general manager of the Willowbrook Mall, could not be reached for comment.
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Wayne police, officers from the Passaic County Sheriff's Office, and security personnel are on constant patrol at Willowbrook. There is a security substation near one of the entrances of the 1.5 million-square-foot mall.
“I know you see some unsavory people here from time to time, but that’s no reason to not come here,” Kathy Cirricone said. “You’ve got a pretty good security presence. I always see someone on patrol.”
The mall is particularly busy on Sundays. The Garden State Plaza is closed on Sundays due to Bergen County blue laws so people flock to Willowbrook to shop.
The mall is often a target for shoplifters. Some of them have heroin or other illegal narcotics on them when police charge them.
“As long as that stuff doesn’t get too out of control, I’ll keep coming here,” Tom Marcus said. “There aren’t too many other places to go around here.”
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