A Claire's employee shared a video online of them hiding during a shooting at the store's mall, gaining over 2.8 million views in the process.
Michy Myers, 18, shared the video to TikTok under the handle @michymyers, showing their response to a shooting at the Southlake Mall in Hobart, Indiana. Five shots were fired at the mall on December 30. According to reports, no one was injured.
Myers filmed themselves in the backroom of the store, as they waited with a family who had been planning on piercing their four-year-old daughter's ears.
"A little girl wanted an ear piercing and now we are in the back room of my Claire's store after shots were fired in our mall. This is evil," they wrote on-screen.
After confirming that they was okay in a follow-up video, Myers explained that "the mall had just opened, I opened the gate and there was a family there waiting."
"I started doing their ear piercing, I dotted on the little girl's ear, it was a four-year-old," she added.
"I'm calming this little girl down because every time I get close to this girl's ears, she's shying away.
"All of a sudden I hear [gunshot noises] three shots, so I froze for a sec."
"The family starts running to the back so that's when I realize and I look outside the Claire's and I see the security officers running," continued Myers.
"So, I grab the hook and I'm like pulling down the gate. Locked the gate, ran to the back and turned off the lights and music."
@michymyers she won’t stop crying.
♬ mitski performing a burning hill - mitski
According to Myers, the shots were directly above the store and left a ringing in her ear from the echo throughout the mall. "I was not trained for an active shooter, other than at school," they said.
CBS Chicago reported that police responded to reports of an active shooter at around 11:20 a.m., after shots were reportedly fired by the food court of the mall.
No one was injured and the police have not provided confirmation of the root of the incident, but CBS reported on speculation the shooting stemmed from a fight over the new Jordan shoes.
Myers added in another video that they received phone alerts regarding the shooting, and showed text messages informing the employee's mother of the ongoing situation. All individuals in the mall had to have their bags searched and bodies checked, according to Myers.
Images posted by the Claire's employee also showed images of glass panels that had been shattered during the shooting.
"Where's my hazard pay?" asked Myers. "Apparently I can't go to work without possibly being in a war zone."
@michymyers Reply to @luuvkenny a goofy day 💀 #storytime #greenscreenvideo
♬ original sound - 🧛🏻♀️ MICHY 🧛🏻♀️
Myers isn't the only store employee to share videos of similar incidents during work. In August, a Target employee filmed and posted himself and other workers fleeing from a suspected shooter in the store.
Viewed over eight million times, the now-deleted video showed workers sitting on the floor of an aisle, before rushing towards the cash office together. "Can somebody call the police," someone could be heard shouting.
Despite the workers' initial suspicions of a shooter, Target confirmed to Newsweek that there was a physical fight in the store but that no gun was involved and there were no injuries. Target also added that law enforcement handled the altercation.
In July, two teens went viral after capturing the moment a shooting occurred at a carnival. The nonchalant reaction from one friend towards the ordeal left many online reflecting on the apparent normalisation of shootings in the U.S.
Newsweek has contacted Hobart Police and Michy Myers for comment.
