At 11:15am, Howard County 911 received several calls reporting shots fired at the Columbia Mall. Howard County Police were alerted and were inside the mall within minutes of the calls. Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue dispatched units for a possible mass casualty incident (MCI) which brought numerous ambulances, fire engines, battalion chiefs, medical duty officers, a medical ambulance bus, mobile command center, a physician, and numerous logistical staff.

The first arriving police officers located three victims that were reportedly deceased. Upon the arrival of additional officers from Howard and Anne Arundel Counties as well as the Maryland State Police, the mall was searched for potential additional shooters and victims. It was determined that the shooter was believed to be one of the deceased, and the fire department personnel were brought to the scene.

Fire department command quickly notified both Howard County General Hospital and University of Maryland Shock Trauma of the situation, and both hospitals initiated their MCI protocols to prepare for the possibility of numerous patients.

Systematic evacuations occurred with all shoppers being funneled through EMS triage. Within several hours, all shoppers had been evacuated and moved to the AMC movie theater on the mall property.

The fire department requested and received critical incident stress management (CISM) personnel to provide emotional support to the shoppers.

A total of five non-critical patients were transported to Howard County General Hospital, four of which were medical emergencies and not directly related to the incident. All patients have since been released from the hospital.

In a situation such as this, a concept known as "unified command" is initiated. This brings the Howard County government, communications center (dispatch), police, fire/EMS, public works, transportation, highways and roads, etc. together to allow for a quick and coordinated response of needed resources. It also initiates communication with surrounding counties to bring additional resources that they may have available as well. For example, today this brought police officers from Anne Arundel County and the Maryland State Police, a Medical Ambulance Bus from Montgomery County, rehab (canteen) units from PG and Anne Arundel Counties, Howard County Transit and school buses, and numerous additional ambulances and fire engines to provide coverage for the county from Baltimore, PG, and Montgomery Counties.

The Columbia Mall will remain closed this evening for the ongoing investigation.

The members of Lisbon VFC would like to extend our thoughts and prayers to the families of the victims as well as the shoppers who will not soon forget the nightmare that they bore witness to.