There were no warning signs before gunfire erupted January 21 in the Fashion Show Mall on the Las Vegas strip. An alleged gang member opened fire on a person he was having an argument with, wounding his target and two innocent bystanders.
The shots reverberated throughout the mall, sending shoppers and mall employees running for cover. Some found exits, while others sheltered in place and hid in stores. By all accounts, chaos and confusion reigned.
But Nordstrom employee Shauna Wise and many other mall employees had downloaded the LiveSafe app and were able to send and receive real-time information to and from mall security throughout the entire incident. The mall operator, Brookfield Properties, is a longtime LiveSafe client and has experience using the platform during major safety and security incidents.
“We got alerted throughout the whole process,” Wise told local Las Vegas reporter Orko Manna. “I don’t know what other stores have it, but I think everyone in the mall should have it. It’s a good alert system,” Wise said.
The Broadcast Alert Message sent by Brookfield Properties to its tenants at the Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas during the Jan. 21 shooting. Credit: 8NewsNow.com
The Fashion Mall shooting provides an important case study in the broader application of the LiveSafe platform. While the ultimate goal of LiveSafe is to surface early-warning insights that can help security personnel detect and prevent incidents from occurring, in cases like this, when there is no warning, LiveSafe’s powerful two-way communications, broadcast alerts, and geo-fencing features provide critical mass communications capabilities that can help prevent further injuries or greater loss of life.
At 6:26 PM PST, a broadcast alert message from Brookfield Properties alerted mall employees to the status of the police investigation and instructed them to secure their store “and stay in place until cleared” by police or security personnel.
Arianie Cortez, the Supervisor for Johnny Rockets inside the mall and a witness to the shooting, told local CBS News 8 in Las Vegas that there had been times in the past when security incidents occurred at the mall and she was unable to use the store’s phone to contact security. “And the app, it really works,” she said.
LiveSafe’s Broadcast and Check In Messages features enable security departments to connect with their communities to provide timely and geographically-relevant emergency information.
Broadcast and Check In Features Include:
Emergency Services Include:
Safety Resources & Map Features Include:
