The Lehigh Valley Mall reopened Sunday, the day after a shooting that left shoppers and workers scrambling for cover.
Just about every store appeared to be open at the mall by noon. Some employees returned to the mall to pick up purses and personal belongings that were left behind in the rush to get out. Customers were heard asking cashiers if they had any updates, specifically, if anyone had been arrested in Saturday afternoon’s shooting.
Shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday several shots were fired in short succession near the vacant former Modell’s Sporting Goods on the lower level, Whitehall Township police Chief Michael Marks told reporters Saturday night. But police did not find anyone shot and no arrests had been made at that time, he said.
Marks did not return messages Sunday.
When Boscov’s reopened Sunday morning, Debbie and Tom Sodl of Northampton were among the many shoppers in the store.
“I went only in Boscov’s because I knew I needed pants,” Debbie Sodl said. “I was hesitant to go to the rest of the mall.”
She said their daughter-in-law, Amanda Sodl of Whitehall, was shopping with a friend Saturday at Hollister on the lower level when “all of a sudden, they heard pop, pop, pop.” They flocked with others to the store’s backroom, Debbie Sodl said, not knowing what was happening in the store or in the mall.
Shortly after police arrived on the scene, according to emergency dispatchers, officers responded to a report that the gunman may have been in Hollister.
Debbie Sodl said her daughter-in-law was “surprised and relieved at how quick the police came.” The sound of police dogs barking gave Amanda comfort, she said.
Many shoppers on Saturday described chaos and screaming as people scurried for safety.
Tonia Smale-Lorenzo was browsing through clothes at Torrid when she heard an employee yell, “Everyone get in the back of the store.”
Hearing the shots, the employee immediately dropped the metal gate to the store’s entrance. Smale-Lorenzo, her 4-year-old daughter and eight other people went into a room in the back of the store and stayed there for three hours as police searched the mall.
Smale-Lorenzo, of Palmerton, turned toward the entrance of the store before going into the back.
“I could just see the stampede of people,” she said.
Debbie Sodl said the experience left her daughter-in-law so shaken she might never return to the mall. What then will happen to their Black Friday tradition, Debbie Sodl wondered. She suggested that the mall address an issue with cellphone reception that could make shoppers feel a little more secure.
Amanda Sodl was unable to reach her husband Saturday afternoon but her friend was able to text him. Others interviewed Saturday by The Morning Call said reception was an issue. And Debbie Sodl said she’s had trouble using her phone at the mall on occasion.
Tom Sodl said the mall might consider installing metal detectors.
“You can’t come in the mall without a mask,” he noted, “but you can come in with a gun.”
This wasn’t the first shooting at Lehigh Valley Mall. In June 2018, rival gang members collided in a fight that started in the mall and ended in the parking lot with gunshots and two men hospitalized. That shooting prompted a similarly massive police response.
Miles Harper of Bethlehem, who was 19 at the time, was convicted in the shooting and and is serving 10 years in prison.
In 2001, an East Allen Township woman was shot and killed in the Lehigh Valley Mall parking lot. Carol DiOdoardo, a mother of two girls, was walking to her car when she was shot. Eliut Betancourt of Allentown pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison. Two conspirators, Joey Gonzalez and Franklin Colon, both of Allentown, were convicted of second-degree murder and are serving life sentences. Prosecutors said the men decided to randomly rob someone and went to the mall to find a target.
Senior content editor Christine Schiavo contributed to this story.
Morning Call reporter Jacqueline Palochko can be reached at 610-820-6613 or at jpalochko@mcall.com.
