"It was Quite Surreal"

A a href=”http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17124042/”mass shooting took place /aat a Salt Lake City shopping mall last night:br /br /blockquoteA historic mall’s winding hallways became a shooting gallery for a gunman in a trench coat who fired a shotgun randomly at customers, slaying five before being killed by police, authorities and witnesses said.br /br /For hours after Monday evening’s rampage at the Trolley Square shopping mall, police searched stores for scared, shocked shoppers and employees who were hunkered down awaiting a safe escort.br /br /Marie Smith, 23, a Bath Body Works manager, saw the gunman through the store window. She watched as he raised his gun and fired at a young woman approaching him from behind….br /br /Matt Lund was visiting his wife, Barbara, manager of the Secret Garden children’s clothing store, when he heard the first shots. The couple and three others hid in a storage room for about 40 minutes, isolated but still able to hear the violence.br /br /On the way out, Lund said, he saw a woman’s body face-down at the entrance to Pottery Barn Kids and a man’s body on the floor in the mall’s east-west corridor. “There were a lot of blown out store windows and shot gun shell casings all over the floor,” Lund said. “It was quite surreal.”/blockquotebr /br /This incident goes to show that violence can happen at any place at any time, in the most unexpected of places. People often think that if they live in a “safe neighborhood” nothing bad will happen to them, but this is simply not true. I learned a long time ago in my work that the troubled mind can show itself in the most unexpected of places, and it no longer surprises me that violence like this exists; my only comfort is that it does not happen more often.br /br /Update:a href=”http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/g/33005b05-5d4e-46be-b651-cbaab640f4cd” Hugh Hewitt /aand a href=”http://michellemalkin.com/archives/006868.htm”Michelle Malkin /ahave more information on the shooter.