Northwoods Mall shooting 911 calls reveal fear, people working to save lives

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Two hours of newly released 911 audio shows chilling moments when employees and bystanders worked to help three victims of the Northwoods Mall Valentine’s day shooting.

Dozens of shoppers and employees called 911 in the minutes following the shooting which left three people injured.

“There’s a person who is shot on the ground,” a caller said. “There are people that are attending to him, send an ambulance out please.”

One of those good Samaritans was Alec Johnson, an off-duty firefighter in training at the Charleston Fire Department that happened to be walking by.

“Yes, I have one of the gunshot wound victims,” Johnson said to a 911 operator. “I’m holding pressure now and I need immediate EMS.”

Johnson jumped into action when he saw a man who had been shot.

“What we’ve been taught in the fire academy is treat the shock, keep them warm,” Johnson said. “Check on their blood pressure, their pulse...and then stop the bleeding.”

He said EMS arrived within 5 minutes of his call.

Meanwhile inside the H&M store, employees were working in a back room to help a woman and girl who had also been shot.

“One lady is profusely bleeding please get a unit here, an ambulance please right away,” one employee said to 911.

“Make sure, have somebody grab the person who’s bleeding, grab something and apply firm pressure to it, okay?” the operator said while directing staff to stop bleeding.

“We’re applying our first aid kit right now,” the employee said.

The North Charleston Police department has not released any information on a suspect in the shooting but is asking the public for help in identifying a man seen on surveillance video.

One woman, a girl and a man were shot with one person in critical condition. The North Charleston Police Department says all three victims survived and the person in critical condition is now stable.

According to Charleston County dispatch, there have been 2,964 911 calls for service to the Northwoods Mall over the past two years.

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