Metro Detroit woman hides in bathroom during Nashville mall shooting

(WJBK) - What began as a quick getaway to Nashville to celebrate a college graduation turned into a nightmarish experience in which a metro Detroit woman had to hide for her life.

"She text me and said mom there's an active shooter in the mall and we're locked in a restaurant bathroom and all I could to was say Oh my God, and froze and started shaking, like what do I do now?"

It's a question no mother would want to ask herself. A woman who we'll call Heather, did not want to be identified. She was still on edge when we talked with her about the shooting inside a Nashville mall.

Her daughter was there with a friend when the shots rang out and were forced to scramble and hide out for safety.

"She ended up being in that bathroom for three hours," she said.

The shooting happened just before 2:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon. Many initially thought it was another a mass shooting incident, but it was actually the result of a longstanding fued between two men.

One of them, 22-year-old Demarco Churchwell, died after being shot. The other man, also 22 years old, is in police custody. 

"Even though it was an altercation between two people there was still a lot of gunfire," Heather said.

Thankfully that did not happen and the young woman from metro Detroit celebrating her college graduation in Music City is OK.

"She's shaken up. She's really shaken up. She was worried the whole time, scared," Heather said.

That young lady plans to come back to metro Detroit tomorrow night.

Police say the suspected gunman surrendered the moment he left the mall.