ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Nearly a week after a security guard was shot at Coronado Center, making it the third shots fired call there in less than a year, what is being done to keep shoppers safe?
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“Obviously, the chief, the sheriff, the district attorney have all been talking about this issue over and over again, and that’s juveniles with guns,” said Albuquerque Police Department spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos in a briefing after the latest mall shooting.
Albuquerque police acknowledged the problem on Friday after yet another shooting at Coronado Center. “I think I’ve been to six different shootings probably in the last few years outside of the mall. The one thing in common I think with every one of them, except maybe one, is kids with a gun,” said Gallegos.
So, what is being done to protect shoppers? “I definitely think there could be more,” said Nahomy, a shopper in Uptown.
Starting with the shooting outside the mall on Black Friday last year, then a shooting inside the food court back in March, and now, Friday’s incident where a security guard was shot.
“Sometimes I feel like after like the whole incident, I did start being more aware of my surroundings cause it is really scary,” said an anonymous shopper.
Shoppers are fed up. “I know like metal detectors would be crazy but something like that would be a little helpful; just because they do have posted up like, no guns, and they have security, but I don’t think that does much,” said Nahomy.
An APD spokesperson told KRQE News 13, that the department responds to calls in the area as well as patrol the Uptown area but right now their only plan to increase their presence is to expand their ShotSpotter technology.
Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office took over the substation at the mall but BCSO says they mostly use it for retail crime operations and have no plans to man it daily. Shoppers are disappointed.
“They’ve seen people put in danger so why, why doesn’t that make them think like, ‘oh there needs to be a change?’ What else needs to be done for there to be a change?,” said Nahomy.
“Since that incident happened they should take action they should do something about it because it can happen a lot more. So I feel like they should take action definitely,” said an anonymous shopper.
KRQE News 13 tried to contact Coronado Center to see what they are doing to keep shoppers safe but they never returned our calls.
Shoppers told KRQE News 13, they feel safer even just across the street in the Uptown shopping center because of the open layout and officers on horses are also able to patrol.
