SLC Shooting
Last night at 9 p.m. I got called to cover a mall shooting about 5 block from my house in Salt Lake City. The shooting had ocurred about two hours before when an 18-year-old Bosnian immigrant entered the mall and began shooting as he loaded and reloaded his two guns.
I got to the scene knowing that I only had about 30 minutes until deadline.
But the scene was overwhelming. It was the first time that I've ever really had to cover something as catastrophic as this. I raced around tyring to gather as much information and story telling photos as possible. At one point, another photographer mentioned that you could see a dead body at the end of a hallway in the mall.
Taking such a picture was extremely difficult. I had just been telling my photo editor that afternoon that I'd never seen a dead body. He was shocked that in my 3 year career I'd never come across such a thing. And four hours later, I had.
Hundreds of people were in the mall last night eating, shopping and watching movies. The gunman, according to witnesses, walked through the mall from store to store shooting people. Men and women hid in closets and in back rooms until it was over. Some were still hiding hours later, too scared to come out.
An off-duty police officer was in the mall at the time and shot down the gunman killing him. Ten people were injured and taken to local hospitals. Six people were dead, including the shooter.
All of the mall goers weren't allowed to leave. Instead they were ushered into the Hard Rock Cafe nearby. They couldn't pick up their cars until 9 a.m. this morning.
The mall, which is usually busy with people, was eerily quiet last night and this morning.
As photojournalists we have to cover this kind of situation. We don't like it, but it's our job. Three hours after I got home last night everything set in. And I cried myself to sleep. How could someone do something like this? Why? Those victims could have just as easily been me or my boyfriend. On occasion we've gone to Trolley Square mall to go to a movie, eat dinner or just walk around. It'll be hard going back ... ever.
I got to the scene knowing that I only had about 30 minutes until deadline.
But the scene was overwhelming. It was the first time that I've ever really had to cover something as catastrophic as this. I raced around tyring to gather as much information and story telling photos as possible. At one point, another photographer mentioned that you could see a dead body at the end of a hallway in the mall.
Taking such a picture was extremely difficult. I had just been telling my photo editor that afternoon that I'd never seen a dead body. He was shocked that in my 3 year career I'd never come across such a thing. And four hours later, I had.
Hundreds of people were in the mall last night eating, shopping and watching movies. The gunman, according to witnesses, walked through the mall from store to store shooting people. Men and women hid in closets and in back rooms until it was over. Some were still hiding hours later, too scared to come out.
An off-duty police officer was in the mall at the time and shot down the gunman killing him. Ten people were injured and taken to local hospitals. Six people were dead, including the shooter.
All of the mall goers weren't allowed to leave. Instead they were ushered into the Hard Rock Cafe nearby. They couldn't pick up their cars until 9 a.m. this morning.
The mall, which is usually busy with people, was eerily quiet last night and this morning.
As photojournalists we have to cover this kind of situation. We don't like it, but it's our job. Three hours after I got home last night everything set in. And I cried myself to sleep. How could someone do something like this? Why? Those victims could have just as easily been me or my boyfriend. On occasion we've gone to Trolley Square mall to go to a movie, eat dinner or just walk around. It'll be hard going back ... ever.
posted by Ash at 9:11 PM
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