‘I’m so mentally disturbed’ | Manassas Mall shooting victim hid behind car before a bullet grazed him

MANASSAS, Va. — One of the people hurt during a shooting outside the Manassas Mall said he was hiding behind a car to avoid the swarm of bullets.

Muhammad Tahir, 51, was smoking a cigarette in the parking lot when he was caught in the crossfire around 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

Prince William County Police said there was a fight between two groups at the food court when they began to pull out their guns. They began firing at each other when the fight reached the parking lot.

Tahir said one of the individuals who ran outside initially warned him to leave. However, the commotion among mall-goers and the people involved in the fight startled him.

“I saw a guy with the gun in between the doors and when he came outside, he was shooting, just shooting,” Tahir recalled. “I was just in front of him, so I just started running. He was brutally straight-firing. People were crying. Kids were crying.”

Tahir was forced to hide behind a car as he noticed gunshots were coming from other directions.

He still remembers hearing bullets whizzing past his head just before he felt a burning sensation of being grazed by a bullet that had ricocheted.

“That really hurt me,” he said. “I just laid down and turned my head to see who shot me. I thought they must have killed 10 to 12 people.”

“I can’t imagine such a thing can happen in such a busy and public place,” he added.

Aside from Tahir, police say one other person, identified as 23-year-old Skyler Agley, was hurt.

Agley has been identified as one of the suspects involved. He remains in the hospital and is expected to face malicious wound and firearm charges.

Police also arrested 18-year-old Daevon Russell and 18-year-old Johsuah Hernandez. They are faced with firearm and malicious wounding charges.

Witness Nora Hernandez, who was visiting from West Virginia, questions the safety of being out in public places, especially for her mother and son.

“It’s scary,” she said. “It can happen to anyone.”

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