INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — Jaylan Moore was working inside the Independence Center on Friday afternoon when the shooting broke out. After more than 24 hours since the initial shots were fired, she is processing the violence as her adrenaline wears off.
RELATED | Police: 4 injured in shootout at Independence Center; 3 persons of interest in custody
“Going back today was very like, surreal,” said Jaylan Moore. “You get there and people are walking around and laughing with their kids, and you wanna be happy, but it’s also like, something horrific just happened here yesterday less than a 100 yards away from where my store is located.”
Jaylan Moore said her instincts kicked in when the reality of the situation set in. In fact, she has been practicing for an active shooter situation since she was in kindergarten.
It is a skill she hoped to never use, but felt one day she would.
“Ran up, closed the doors, took the customer to the back of the store with me and we just started calling people and trying to get updates,” said Jaylan Moore. “Even with not knowing what is happening, I was talking to the customer about exit plan.”
Outside, her mother Janice Moore was waiting to be reunited with her daughter.
“There was no way I wasn’t gonna be there when she got out. I had to see my daughter. She’s 21, she’s an adult, but she’s still my kid,” said Janice Moore. “I couldn’t wait to see her and hug her. And that moment that I had her in my arms was such a blessing.”
Also inside the mall on Friday afternoon was Clarence Line. He had just broken off from the rest of his friends, making small talk with a security guard.
“All of a sudden, I heard this noise. I thought some contractor dropped a ladder or something, you know? And all then all of a sudden, I heard pop, pop, pop, pop — sounded like balloons popping,” said Line.
He eventually took cover at a nearby jewelry store with ten other bystanders, staying in lockdown for 30 to 45 minutes.
“People were scrambling and a guy was crawling on the floor grabbing his leg, you know, and all the doors were starting to close in the mall,” said Line.
While the path forward to preventing another shooting is not always clear, Jaylan Moore says the best thing people can do is to stay prepared.
“It a very morbid conversation to have with a child, yes, but it’s an important conversation that needs to be had. It’s the world we live in unfortunately,” said Jaylan Moore.
Independence Center was open for usual business hours on Saturday, according to a security guard at the mall.
—
