The news that many Marylanders received on the morning of Saturday, January 25th was shocking even by today’s standards.  Whether it was by CNN update or a worried phone call from a family member, hearing that there had been a shooting at Columbia Mall — a place that many in the Paint Branch community visit regularly— was indeed jaw-dropping.

Just after 11:00 AM that Saturday morning, Darion Marcus Aguilar, a 19-year old from College Park—who, only one year earlier, graduated from James Hubert Blake High School–opened fire with a 12-gauge pistol-grip shotgun in Zumiez, a skateboard shop.  Aguilar fatally shot two Zumiez employees—Brianna Benlolo, a 21-year old single mother from College Park, and Tyler Johnson, a 25-year old from Mount Airy – before turning the gun on himself.

Howard County Police Chief William J. McMahon told the Washington Post that it is still unclear whether there is anything that connects Aguilar to his victims—apart from the fact that both Aguilar and Benlolo were from College Park—and that the police are still working on finding a motive.

The details of the shooting came out shortly after police completed their investigation.  In his interview with the Washington Post, Howard County Executive Ken Ulman explained that the police were able track Aguilar’s actions through the mall’s security footage.

Based on the footage, police noticed that after waiting for nearly an hour in the food court, Aguilar walked up to the second-floor Zumiez store, where Benlolo and Johnson were the only workers. There was one customer also present in the store, who was not injured in the shooting.

According to the Washington Post, Aguilar then walked into a Zumiez dressing room—where the police later found his backpack which held an explosive device – before putting his plan into action. When he walked out of the dressing room, Aguilar was armed with the shotgun that police think he used to fire six to eight rounds.  The victims were dead before the first call to the police–all three were found on the floor of Zumiez.

In the ensuing chaos after the shots rang out, five people were injured, with one of those people suffering from a minor gunshot wound that came from a stray bullet.

The Prince George’s County Police were already looking for Aguilar during the time of the shooting as his mother had reported him missing. When police went to his house prior to the shooting, they looked through Aguilar’s journal and, as reported by the Howard County Police Department’s Twitter page, found that “Aguilar mentions killing people, but in general terms. He does not mention the victims, or any other person.”

When asked how he felt about the shooting, Paint Branch freshman Jordan Greene expresses that he was “Very shocked when [he] heard there were reports of an active shooter in the mall.”  As for whether this event will affect his visits to Columbia Mall, Greene says, “I didn’t go to [Columbia Mall] that often, but this won’t stop me from going.”

Not everyone shared the shocked feeling, however.  “It happens everywhere,” says PB Senior Saron Tklezgi.  “You can’t really do anything about it, so why should you live your life scared?”

Also on their Twitter feed, the Howard County Police explained that, in his journal, “Aguilar indicates that he needed a mental health professional, but never told his family.”

Regarding this report, PB English Department Resource Teacher Ms. McDonald reasons that “There’s no need to be scared…the issue is with the mental health aspect of the case. A lot of people are disconnected these days because they don’t communicate how they feel. So many people just don’t have anyone to talk to.”