BOCA RATON, Fla. _ The day after an active shooter scare at Town Center mall, shoppers were back Monday and so were police.
At 10 a.m., a line of customers stood outside the Apple store, which didn't open until close to 1 p.m. Parts of the Boca Raton mall opened as regularly scheduled, while other stores were planning to open later Monday.
Macy's opened at its regular 10 a.m. time, but only a few customers were walking around. The mall grew busier as the day wore on.
"It's not that different here today from your normal Monday morning," said Tessa Wiggins, 26, a server at Capital Grille. Wiggins sat in the food court with her friend, Rylee Smith, 21, waiting for Fabletics to open before her shift.
"I think it's strange that we don't even know what really happened yet," Wiggins said. "I don't think anyone knows what happened."
On Sunday afternoon, reports of an active shooter caused chaos in the mall. Police later said there were no signs of a shooting or gunman and called it a "suspicious incident."
"Some noise went off with some type of bang," Boca Raton Police Chief Dan Alexander said Sunday night.
"We do not have a weapon recovered," he said.
Police on Monday continued to sift through surveillance video and talk to people to figure out the source of the loud bang, Officer Jessica Desir said.
If a source is determined, the next step to is see if the jarring noise was accidental or intentional, Desire said.
"We want to know," she said.
A man trying to escape the food court area hit his head on a door while fleeing on Sunday. He was taken to Delray Medical Center with injuries that weren't considered life-threatening. A few people also suffered minor injuries from trips and falls as they evacuated, he said.
"It just shows you how much PTSD people have, that your mind went automatically to a shooting," said Smith, who lives in Boca. "Just straight panic."
Boca Raton police officers were patrolling the mall. Wiggins also said it's normal to see mall security, but it's unusual to see Boca police officers.
Myrna Pierre, 20, an employee at Bath & Body Works, was meeting up with her friend at the mall Monday. She doesn't work today but said she feels the need to be "on call" in the area since her younger brother goes to elementary school in Boca.
"You don't understand the feeling until it happens to you, or at a place you're always at," said Pierre, who wasn't at the mall on Sunday.
Pierre said she thinks there should be more security and better preparation for the next mass panic, especially as the holidays approach and malls grow increasingly crowded. But she doesn't feel unsafe working in a mall, she said.
"Black Friday is coming up, and the mall is gonna be packed with people," she said. "I don't want to have to think: I hope I don't get shot today."
People who left their cars or belongings in the mall were allowed to retrieve them late Sunday night. Anyone who still needs to get their belongings should check with mall administration.
