iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — New surveillance video shows the chaotic and terrifying scene inside an Apple store as gunfire erupted in a mall in New York state, causing shoppers and workers to scramble for their lives.
The Albany District Attorney’s Office released the Nov. 12, 2016, video, which captured the scene from inside and outside the store at the Crossgates Mall in Albany.
In the video people are falling over each other, hiding under tables and running to safety. One woman nearly caused a stroller carrying a child to flip over.
According to authorities, “Multiple accounts of shots fired near a crowded area of the mall near the Apple Store were reported to law enforcement. At the time of the incident there were thousands of patrons and employees present at the mall. The incident happened just yards away from ‘Santa Land,’ where multiple families were lined up to take holiday photos.”
On Friday, Tasheem Maeweather, 20, of Albany, was sentenced to 3.5 years to seven years in prison for first-degree reckless endangerment in the incident, according to a news release from the District Attorney’s office.
Maeweather’s lawyer Lee Kindlon confirmed to ABC News Tuesday that Maeweather was at the mall at the time of the shooting but he said his client wasn’t involved. Kindlon told ABC News that he is working on an appeal.
“I think that the defendant’s conviction on reckless endangerment will be overturned,” Kindlon said. “Justice is a process. At trial, the people weren’t able to show my client possessed or fired a gun that day. … In time, through the appellate courts, I have confidence that the law is on our side.”
No weapons were recovered at the scene of the shooting and no one came forward with injuries after the shooting incident, according to the District Attorney’s Office. However, blood was found at the scene, authorities said.
At Maeweather’s jury trial, an off-duty state trooper testified that he’d not only seen Maeweather at the mall but also had seen him shooting a gun, according to the Altamont Enterprise.
In May, Maeweather, who authorities say was on probation at the time of the shooting and wearing an ankle monitor, was acquitted on three other charges related to the incident: attempted murder, attempted assault and weapons possession.
“Citizens of Albany County should always expect to be safe when visiting public spaces,” District Attorney P. David Soares said in the news release. “This defendant violated our sense of safety and has left a traumatic and indelible memory for those who were present that day.”
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