‘I was so scared’: Employee at Towne East mall recalls seeing fight, fatal shooting

Servet Sieger was sitting at the Towne East Square mall kiosk that she’s worked at for years when a fight broke out less than 15 feet away Friday and a gun dropped on the ground.

She’s seen fights before in the mall, even was attacked by a mall goer, but the gun was a cause for concern.

The 59-year-old from Turkey started yelling to her brother, Gursel Karakas, to get down. She tried to alert other people that there was a gun and to hide.

She said she started to get behind her kiosk, which sells pop its, when she saw two more teens come up and one start shooting. Sieger thought the shooter used the gun that was on the ground, but a police statement and video seem to show the shooter pulling out a gun and opening fire.

Trenjvious Hutton, 14, was shot multiple times. He died at the scene.

It appears from videos circulated on social media that four shots were fired. The videos showed four people being involved in a fight with someone trying to help break it up. One person breaks away from the group, then circles around, pulls out a gun from his waistline and starts shooting, a video shows.

A 16-year-old was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder. Police have recovered two handguns. Police said Friday night’s shooting in the crowded mall was gang-related.

“I was so scared, you cannot believe it,” she said. “I feel so sorry (for the victim).”

Sieger said there was a mass panic when the shooting happened. A few people ran out of one of their shoes, she said.

“You cannot imagine,” she said.

Laying down behind the kiosk obscured her view of what was happening, but it gave her some comfort to know there was a barrier between her and the shooting.

An employee at the Zumiez, who she described as a nice man who protects her, dragged her into the store and then locked up the store. He said he was just trying to keep her safe. He wouldn’t say more and asked an Eagle reporter to leave the store.

Police used a blanket Sieger takes to work to block people’s view of the crime scene, she said, and they placed her kiosk cover over the victim’s body.

The shooting happened in front of Foot Locker, which was closed on Saturday. A Wichita officer, who paused and looked at the closed Foot Locker on Saturday, said he wasn’t there because of the shooting, but as a regular weekend assignment.

Sieger was back at work Saturday in the part-time job she’s done for roughly 16 years. Despite taking medicine, her blood pressure was high.

“This mall is absolutely not safe,” she said.

She’s seen fights before, though never a shooting. She and her sister were attacked a few years ago, she said. Sieger said she complained to mall officials, but nothing changed.

On Saturday, another employee who was working about 50 feet from Foot Locker when the shooting happened said that “fights happen often.” She asked not to be named.

Mall general manager Stephanie Satrape did not respond to questions from The Eagle.

Karakas, who works at a kiosk that sells stuffed animals, said he used to be in the Turkish army and was not as scared as his sister. He said he saw fights more frequently when he worked at a mall in Omaha.

“I have to work, you know,” he said. “I have to work.”

This story was originally published March 19, 2022 at 2:35 PM.