This week, my wife and I took a short anniversary trip to Cape Cod, and we spent most of Thursday driving home. It was our first real road trip in the new Tesla, which came with a learning curve. Unlike a regular car, you can’t just pull into any gas station — you need a charging station, and they aren’t exactly around every corner. Luckily, the Tesla does all the math for you, plotting the route and sending you straight to a Supercharger when you need it. And with the supervised self-driving feature, it basically drives me there too.
Our second and final charging stop was in Syracuse, N.Y., at the Destiny USA mall. We stopped, got the car charging, and killed a little time inside the mall. The stop was uneventful for us, but it turns out we barely missed a lockdown that may have kept us from getting home quickly.
“Around 3:22 p.m., Syracuse Police Officers responded to a report of a suspicious person with a weapon in the area of North Geddes Street and Spencer Street. The caller told 911 that they observed a white male walking with what appeared to be an AR-15-looking weapon,” reports WSYR Syracuse.
Around 3:43 p.m., 911 dispatchers received a second call from a person who observed a male matching the same description in the area of Hiawatha Street and Solar Street. The caller reported seeing the man “cock the gun and sling it on his shoulder.”
Several officers responded to the area and began to search for the suspect. Drone units were activated and began to search the area. The Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office was notified of the incident, and their helicopter, Air One, was put on standby. Officers continued to search the area, which included the Creek Walk and Destiny USA Mall.
Around 4:04 p.m., a detective who was working the Destiny USA Mall detail was reviewing camera footage and reported to officers that he observed the suspect on an escalator.
At that point, the mall was placed on lockdown. The detective continued to follow the man and reported that he was in the area of the 110 Grill.
During this time, dispatch received another call, which reported that there was a shot fired in the canyon area. But this was determined to be inaccurate, as multiple officers were in that area.
At 4:10 p.m., Syracuse police detained the man who sparked the panic at the mall. It wasn’t a gun after all; he was carrying an umbrella, one of those samurai-style ones with a handle that, from a distance, some people think looks a lot like a gun barrel. The umbrella even had a strap for slinging it over the shoulder, which didn’t help matters.
Officers quickly secured the area, and after a thorough review of video footage and witness statements, determined the man was completely cooperative. The officers questioned him and then released him without charges or arrests, as it was just a very bizarre misunderstanding. The mall reopened shortly after.
I’m just glad we’d already left when it happened. Driving from Boston to Buffalo is long enough as it is.
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