COLUMBIA, S.C. — It's a time regularly celebrated by family and friends but, in the South Carolina Midlands, it's also a day some shoppers will likely never forget.
Easter weekend of 2022, roughly one year ago, is when tragedy struck the Columbiana Centre Mall in a shooting that left several injured, nine of whom suffered gunshot wounds.
Hundreds of people fled the mall to safety that day.
"I was talking to my employees a few minutes ago before you got here and we were like was that a year ago already?" Don Tequilas restaurant owner Fernando Bravo said. "Couldn't believe it and I remember everyone was looking out at the windows and it was scary because we didn't know exactly what happened."
Bravo's restaurant is across the street from the mall. He said that nearly a dozen people ran into their restaurant lobby the day of the shooting.
Since then, the Columbiana Centre Mall has added a security patrol dog named Carlos to sniff out guns that are not allowed inside, according to mall officials.
Columbia Police said that since the shooting, officers have been hired by various stores to work extra duty.
"I've seen a lot of patrol activity since then," Bravo said. "But like I said, a lot has to be done so we can get the people's trust."
Gavin Ellenburg, who witnessed the Columbiana Centre shooting, still remembers that day.
"The whole food court was destroyed. There was people, bags, and phones and stuff all on the ground and all the tables in there that people eat on were messed up, flipped over and you could just tell there was a panic," Ellenburg said.
He said he noticed the heavier law enforcement presence when he returned to the mall last month.
"I will say this: the police presence there is better. If things are going to be happening like that, there, and it's a no carry zone where people can't necessarily bring their own things and protect themselves, then, it probably is necessary for there to be more of a presence there," Ellenburg said.
The mall's property management company, Brookfield Properties, said in a statement that they wanted to "assure our community that we have a robust security program in place that we constantly review and evaluate.
"We remain grateful every day to our security officers and partners at the Columbia Police Department," the statement added.
The three arrested suspected shooters are still in jail after all bonds were denied in April of 2022.
Their names are Marquise Robinson, Jewayne Price, and Amari Smith. Lexington County court records still have their trials listed as pending.
