Mall shoppers reflect on shooting one year later

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. (WBAY) - It’s been one year since a shooting at the Fox River Mall and Tuesday the man convicted will face sentencing.

Jovanni Frausto died after 18 year old Dezman Ellis opened fire in the mall’s food court.

A bystander was also struck and injured.

The two at the time were having an argument over a girl.

Dramatic video that day shows about a hundred people who had been sheltering in place, being allowed to leave, with many holding their hands up surrounded by officers and a SWAT unit.

It was in front of Bob’s Furniture, that Action 2 News was able to do some interviews.

“We were at GNC and we saw people running, it was kind of like nails, when you hammer a nail and obviously we booked it in back too,” said one person.

Another shopper told us, “This is the first like, I’ve ever heard gun shots literally in a mall. I’ve been working here since August, this is all a shock to me.”

A year later many people are still reliving the nightmare.

Donald Dains remembers shopping in Scheels when he was told to head for the basement along with everyone else in the store.

“We knew something wasn’t right if you have a shooter in the mall and we don’t have the details, we don’t know what’s happening I mean, but we’ve heard this story before across the country but yet, just the calmness of the staff and the people, yeah,” Dains said.

Just this past weekend Dains says he thought about the shooting after driving past a bad car accident on Interstate 41, not far from the mall.

Dains added, “I wasn’t involved in it but I was sitting on the highway and I thought I’ve got stuff to do but obviously somebody else’s day is worse than mine so it is what it is and the people just again, the first responders, the whole system I don’t know, makes me proud.”

It took police hours secure the mall after the shooting, which was closed the following day.

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