HIALEAH, Fla. -- Police surrounded the Westland Mall after an armored truck guard was robbed and a shot was fired.
As police, with guns drawn, were checking cars looking for two armed robbers, Hialeah High School senior Juan Collazzo rushed out of the mall just minutes before it was put on lockdown.
"The security guards were wrestling with this man," he said.
Collazzo said he was renting his prom tuxedo from Men's Wearhouse when he heard a gunshot.
"I was in the back of the store," he said. "There's no way out. I thought that guy went back there and I thought I was a goner."
Police said one of the robbers stole money from a Dunbar security guard inside the mall. The guard was returning to his armored truck after picking up some money at JC Penney.
"Before he left, he turned around and took a shot at the security guard," said Frank Gonzalez of the Hialeah Police Department. "Fortunately he wasn't injured. No one in the mall was injured."
The gunshot sent mall patrons running. At La Fogata, Layda Mazzoraba said she was in the middle of eating when a crowd stormed the café.
"It was pretty scary," she said. "Because you don't know exactly what's going on."
Police said they were investigating surveillance video from mall security cameras. They said they only have a vague description of the two robbers.
The robbers left the mall in a white vehicle, police said.
The FBI arrived at the Westland Mall at about 6 p.m. to investigate further.
Copyright 2008 by NBC6.net. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
