Woman Pulls Gun on Black Family In Viral Mall Confrontation Video

A white woman who was caught on video brandishing a gun against a group of Black teens shopping at their local mall has gone viral and enraged millions across the country.

An altercation between two families at the Vancouver Mall in Vancouver, Washington last week led to a white woman pulling a firearm against a group of Black shoppers in front of the mall's Lids store, The Columbian reported.

The Vancouver Police Department was called on June 9 around 4 p.m. after mall security intervened in the altercation, according to the outlet. The families reportedly have a history of public disputes, and the woman allegedly told law enforcement that she brandished her weapon to "protect her daughters" in the altercation.

Footage of the incident quickly made its way online. Twitter user Ryan Shead uploaded footage taken at the end of the incident, in which the white woman, gun in hand, and her children are seen walking away from Lids with security in pursuit. Both families are heard hurling insults at each other from down the mall corridor.

"What is wrong with them?" one startled witness is heard saying at the end of the video.

"This woman pulled her gun in a Lids hat store. The Kids walked in front of the gun," Shead captioned the post. "I know, let's make it even easier for these people to get and carry guns. Clearly, they are responsible individuals."

"I hate it here right now," he concluded.

Shead also tweeted video footage from another angle at the beginning of the fight, which had been uploaded to TikTok by user @devils_lettuce21, also known as Theo. It's not clear what the families were arguing about. The white woman is seen in the video pointing her gun at one of the Black teenagers, who is being pulled back by a woman holding a baby. The daughters in both families are screaming at each other.

During the dispute, an unidentified male is seen walking into Lids past the woman and her gun as several security officers try to intervene and move the Black family away from the store.

"This girl pulled a g*n at vancouver mall and this guy just casually walks past her," Theo writes in the video-text overlay. He captioned the video, "This is vancouver WA for you lmaooo."

The TikTok video has since been viewed nearly 50 million times and liked by over 8.6 million users. While several commenters found it humorous that the unknown man walked past the woman and her weapon in the middle of the argument, most were horrified by the encounter and expressed dismay at the security guards' response.

"Those security guards look so lost. Like they have no idea how to handle the situation," one viewer wrote. "The security don't know how to handle the situation smh," another added.

Newsweek spoke to Theo, who said that he was "shocked" at the sight of the weapon.

"I have never experienced a gun being pulled out in public before and it was definitely frightening," he said. "No one knows what the person with the gun is capable of."

Although he noted that since posting the video he learned of the history of animosity between the two families, he immediately feared that because it was a "white woman...pointing a gun at a group of Black women." It seemed to be "some racially motivated activity."

Theo also told Newsweek that he decided to upload 15 seconds of the altercation to TikTok "to spread awareness of the Vancouver Mall and to show a glimpse of how people [like people of color and cops] and others react to gun violence."

"And it was crazy how unbothered the man who walked [past the woman with the gun] was," he remarked. "That shows how gun violence is being normalized."

A spokesperson for the Vancouver Police Department confirmed with Newsweek that no one was injured in the dispute and that the woman's gun was determined to be unloaded at the time. Newsweek has also requested a copy of the police report on the incident.

Following the incident, concerned mall-goers sought answers from the Vancouver Mall. One outspoken Facebook user demanded answers, claiming that the mall's "security is shown walking past and not even attempting to intervene."

The Vancouver Mall then issued a statement in the comments section of a promotional post for a mall event.

"The shopping center's CCTV footage of the incident shows that mall security responded within 20 seconds of the gun being displayed," Vancouver Mall said. "The mall security team also promptly alerted the Vancouver Police Department.

"Because the safety and security of our shoppers, tenants and employees is of the utmost importance, the center's management and security teams have been working closely with local law enforcement authorities to aid in their investigation of the incident," the mall added, noting that the Vancouver Police Department has since "referred a charge of displaying a firearm against the woman with the gun to the Vancouver city attorney's office."

Newsweek reached out to the Vancouver Mall for additional comment, but the mall referred back to the statement released on Facebook.

Last month, another "gun incident" at a mall was reported after shoppers heard what they believed to be gunshots in a Dallas, Texas shopping center. Fortunately, a police investigation determined that the sound was of a man banging his skateboard against the floor.