‘We don’t have a bubble over us’: Shoppers describe fear, confusion during Arundel Mills scramble

Anne Arundel County Council member Allison Pickard doesn’t often get to go shopping alone. She was thankful her children weren’t present Saturday afternoon as she was ushered through the back of a Timberland outlet at Arundel Mills Mall when a gun discharged in the food court, causing a panic among shoppers. Pickard, who didn’t hear the shot, was at first unsure why she was being evacuated. She was able to get in contact with an Anne Arundel County Police lieutenant who put her mind at ease that no one was shot. But crowds of Saturday shoppers at the mall evacuated fearing the gunfire came from an active shooter.