By Mary O’KEEFE

It began at about 2:45 p.m. on Saturday when three suspects entered Bhindi Jewelers in the Glendale Galleria and attempted a smash-and-grab robbery. It was then that a security guard hired by Bhindi surprised the suspects and fired two shots.

The shots startled many in the mall who immediately assumed there was an active shooter. According to some witnesses, people throughout the mall were yelling for everyone to run, some even stating that the gunman was close by. Several people ran out of the mall while others hid and asked for information via social media.

During the episode the Glendale Police Dept. received about 1,000 calls. The initial call of an attempted robbery came from Bhindi, which also stated that the security guard was detaining a suspect. However, about half of the calls made to police gave inaccurate information that included an active shooter scenario.

“At the time the first responders didn’t know what they had,” said Sgt. Dan Suttles, GPD spokesman.

The GPD response to an active shooter is completely different than a call concerning a robbery. In the case of an active shooter, police enter the mall in force, tell people to get to safety and ask if anyone has any information as to where the shots came from. In a robbery, the police go directly to the business while searching the perimeter for suspects.

The GPD investigation discovered that at least two men entered the jewelry store with mallets and started smashing the jewelry showcases. The guard had fired two shots, no one was injured, and detained one of the suspects. The other suspect fled the location. Police searched the area but did not find the other suspect/suspects.

Although the City of Glendale, GPD and media outlets released statements that there was not an active shooter, several people on social media continued to post inaccurate information.

GPD took the one detained suspect, Kamal Key, 20, of Los Angeles, into custody. Further investigation, including surveillance photos, showed there were a total of four suspects, three who entered the mall while the fourth remained with a car parked nearby.

GPD is asking for the public’s help in identifying the outstanding suspects.

  Mary Okeefe