(COLORADO SPRINGS) — Colorado Springs leaders met with the owners of the Citadel Mall at a press conference on Thursday, Aug. 15 to discuss ongoing safety concerns.

The conversations come after multiple shootings have happened at the mall over the years,
including one last week that left one person in critical condition. The mall is also on Fort Carson’s 2024 restricted list, and now city leaders and the owners are working to try and get off that list.

The mall is owned by Namdar Realty Group, which sent a representative to Colorado Springs to figure out ways to keep customers safe.

“I’m not going to deny that there is some fear there, that I have had some customers who have told me that they do not feel safe. They’ve had incidences themselves even outside the shooting,” said Jodi Harlow, a tenant at the mall.

This comes after a series of shootings and other violence both at the mall and in the vicinity. One shooting in December left one person dead, and another on Aug. 7 led to a person being taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the leg.

“I was also on the phone with the mall manager within five minutes of the incident happening, and I did feel that they did respond strongly,” said Kevin Chadrjian, a representative from Namdar Realty Group.

In addition to the safety concerns, Fort Carson also put the mall on their 2024 list of places soldiers cannot visit.

“As soon as we understood the gravity of the decision out of Fort Carson, we immediately partnered with City Council, and with our community, and our private sector to ensure that we were moving in the right direction to welcome those families back to the Citadel Mall,” added Jessie Kimber, Economic Development Officer with the City of Colorado Springs.

However, some people are wondering why they didn’t act sooner to find solutions.

“Should it maybe have happened after a previous shooting? I mean, I guess you could have that conversation. But there are shootings around the city, all over the city, and they don’t necessarily prompt this kind of action. I mean, it was a combination of a number of things. So, the final snowflake that broke the branch,” added City Councilwoman Nacy Henjum, District 5.

The city and the mall are planning to host a community conversation on Sept. 20 to figure out what the mall should look like moving forward.

“I think we were missing Namdar, I’ll just say it, I think we were, and we now have Namdar,” said the councilwoman.

The mall is planning to install more cameras, increase security, install more lights, and even add gates to the parking lot entrances.