If the Earps and Clantons were alive today, they wouldn’t hold their gunfight at the OK Corral. They’d just meet up at Hanes Mall. After all, the mall is conveniently located, it’s spacious, and you can have your unencumbered confrontation night or day, inside or outside. I don’t mean to make light of the violence which has occurred at Hanes Mall in recent times, nor do I mean any disrespect to the victims who have been killed or injured. But my sarcasm is born out of a sense of anger and frustration over a problem that continues to go unchecked.
Granted, malls are not what they used to be, and the pandemic didn’t help matters. But despite bankruptcies, closings, and vacant storefronts, malls are still a strategic gathering place, and these days, that’s all it takes to attract crazies and criminals. Of course, mall violence is not a new phenomenon. The Inquisitr provides us with a timeline for some of the major shootings, which include: seven people wounded at a Tacoma Washington mall in 2005; five people murdered in 2007 at a mall in Salt Lake City; eight people killed later that same year at a mall in Omaha; two people killed at the Arundel Mills Mall in Maryland in 2011; and the following year three people were killed and four wounded at a mall in Wisconsin. Again, these are just a few examples and don’t address the numerous shootings that have occurred over the past 10 years involving one or two victims, such as the 19-year-old boy who was shot last December in the Mall of America in Minnesota.
Closer to home, Hanes Mall’s gun woes have escalated over the past three years. In August 2019, a man was shot to death just outside of BJ’s restaurant. In January 2020, a teenager was shot just outside the Forever 21 store in a gang-related incident. And, less than a week later, another teen was shot in the face during a fight near J.C. Penney’s. It gets worse. Over the past year, Hanes Mall has been the scene of gun violence no less than three times, including the most recent incident, which occurred earlier this month involving a shoot-out between an unidentified man and several juveniles in a van.
In his December 19, 2020 article, Winston-Salem Journal correspondent Scott Sexton reported that police were called to Hanes Mall two to three times a day to deal with everything from shoplifters to runaways. That raises the question, “Why not have police stationed at Hanes Mall all the time?” The answer could lie in either Hanes Mall being required to hire an armed security force 24/7, or the Winston-Salem Police Department setting up a full-time sub-station at the mall. In either case, the security force would have to include parking lot patrols. Meanwhile, the mall should be required to install metal detectors at the major entrances and have them manned by a member of the security team. One way or another, Hanes Mall would have to pony up big bucks and so would taxpayers. But an investment in mall security could pay off down the line, with people feeling safe enough to return to their once-favorite place to shop.
Violence at Hanes Mall…AGAIN
If the Earps and Clantons were alive today, they wouldn’t hold their gunfight at the OK Corral. They’d just meet up at Hanes Mall. After all, the mall is conveniently located, it’s spacious, and you can have your unencumbered confrontation night or day, inside or outside. I don’t mean to make light of the violence which has occurred at Hanes Mall in recent times, nor do I mean any disrespect to the victims who have been killed or injured. But my sarcasm is born out of a sense of anger and frustration over a problem that continues to go unchecked.
Granted, malls are not what they used to be, and the pandemic didn’t help matters. But despite bankruptcies, closings, and vacant storefronts, malls are still a strategic gathering place, and these days, that’s all it takes to attract crazies and criminals. Of course, mall violence is not a new phenomenon. The Inquisitr provides us with a timeline for some of the major shootings, which include: seven people wounded at a Tacoma Washington mall in 2005; five people murdered in 2007 at a mall in Salt Lake City; eight people killed later that same year at a mall in Omaha; two people killed at the Arundel Mills Mall in Maryland in 2011; and the following year three people were killed and four wounded at a mall in Wisconsin. Again, these are just a few examples and don’t address the numerous shootings that have occurred over the past 10 years involving one or two victims, such as the 19-year-old boy who was shot last December in the Mall of America in Minnesota.
Closer to home, Hanes Mall’s gun woes have escalated over the past three years. In August 2019, a man was shot to death just outside of BJ’s restaurant. In January 2020, a teenager was shot just outside the Forever 21 store in a gang-related incident. And, less than a week later, another teen was shot in the face during a fight near J.C. Penney’s. It gets worse. Over the past year, Hanes Mall has been the scene of gun violence no less than three times, including the most recent incident, which occurred earlier this month involving a shoot-out between an unidentified man and several juveniles in a van.
In his December 19, 2020 article, Winston-Salem Journal correspondent Scott Sexton reported that police were called to Hanes Mall two to three times a day to deal with everything from shoplifters to runaways. That raises the question, “Why not have police stationed at Hanes Mall all the time?” The answer could lie in either Hanes Mall being required to hire an armed security force 24/7, or the Winston-Salem Police Department setting up a full-time sub-station at the mall. In either case, the security force would have to include parking lot patrols. Meanwhile, the mall should be required to install metal detectors at the major entrances and have them manned by a member of the security team. One way or another, Hanes Mall would have to pony up big bucks and so would taxpayers. But an investment in mall security could pay off down the line, with people feeling safe enough to return to their once-favorite place to shop.