IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCCI) – Students in the Ped Mall at the time of the shooting early Sunday are recalling the moment when they heard the shots ring out, KCCI reports.
Iowa City police responded to a report of a fight at 1:46 a.m. Sunday when gunshots rang out.
University of Iowa sophomore Ellie Mangold was maybe 100 feet or so from the gunshots.
“I heard the four gunshots, and I talked to my friend and was like, ‘Was that gunshots?’” Mangold said. “We hear people screaming, I look back, everyone starts running. So we were just like, we gotta move now. We got to get out of here.”
She said she and her friends were just walking around after a Saturday night out and called seeing this happen “insane.”
“We were just like walking around, and I had no idea because usually I feel really safe in this town,” Mangold said. “So just seeing that happen was insane to me.”
Another University of Iowa junior said her and her friend were in the middle of the crowd when things started to escalate.
“We were walking, and we were actually in the middle of the group as everything started breaking out,” Jade Huaracha said. “I just grab her hand, and we get out of that little ball of people that are starting to form.”
Huaracha said revisiting the Pedestrian Mall was unsettling.
“Honestly, a little bit, yes,” Huaracha said. “This is my first time back at the mall since that, and as I was getting ready to come over here, my hands were literally shaking.”
Both students say they were thankful the University sent out Hawk Alerts to let people know what was happening.
Iowa City police are urging anyone with information to call (319) 356-5275.
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