Shoppers huddle in back of SoHo store fearing active shooter

SOHO, Manhattan (WABC) — Lauren Porcelli and her friend Nicole Vawter huddled with other customers in the back of Zara in SoHo – their day of shopping on Saturday turned into a day of panic.

“She locked eyes with someone who said that he had a gun. So the next thing we know, we’re getting trampled and pushed into the back corner of the room,” Porcelli said.

First responders rushed to the store on Broadway just after 3 p.m. as customers inside the store thought the worst.

“It was scary, and I feel like with all the incidents that have happened with guns I the past couple months and years – you don’t question it,” added Vawter.

Police say there was no active shooter, but customers would later find out a store security guard was hit in the head with a bottle. He was removed from the store, bleeding on a stretcher.

Police sources say the guard confronted two men who he thought were stealing. They came back and hit him over the head.

By nighttime, customers showed up early, only to find out the store had closed early due to the chaos. It was chaos that Porcelli and Vawter knew could have been a lot worse – and often is.

Store employees say they decided to close early Saturday out of an abundance of caution and because of the toll the dramatic ordeal took on employees. They plan to open for business as usual on Sunday.

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