Zach Dean
Videos by OutKick
NASCAR driver Kyle Busch, wife Samantha and their two children were inside the Mall of America earlier this week when an active shooter opened fire in a Nike store.
According to police, the shooting started with a conflict between two groups at the cash registers, with one person pulling a gun and firing shots.
Nobody was believed to be hurt in the shooting, but, as of Friday, the suspects were still at large.
Busch and his son, Brexton, were in line for a ride when his wife called them in a panic.
“There was definitely a real sense of danger, a huge sense,” Busch told reporters at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday. “Samantha called and I answered and we skipped going on the ride and went straight back out the exit. We just stayed on the phone together because she told me shots had been fired. At that point you have no idea.”
Shortly after the shooting, which occurred around 4:15 p.m. Thursday, a video began circulating on social media showing people frantically leaving the mall. Busch and his son can been seen at the 20-second mark.
Breaking: Mall of America is on lockdown in Bloomington, Minnesota, after reports of a shooting. pic.twitter.com/I7szUMgaCu
— PM Breaking News (@PMBreakingNews) August 4, 2022
“I’m asking (Samantha), ‘Where are you? What store is it coming from? What level are you on?’ I’m trying to figure out if I’m walking my way right into it or am I walking out of it,” Busch said. “There’s chaos … people running this way, people running that way, people running right at you. You just had no idea.”
Samantha Busch, who was with the couple’s newest baby, Lennix, got out of the mall before Kyle and Brexton and wrote on her Instagram story shortly after that the two made it out safely.
#NASCAR: Kyle Busch and his family were at Mall of America today, and Samantha confirmed in her IG Stories that they got out prior to the mall being locked down for a reported shooting and are safe. pic.twitter.com/OxKkBtHZAv
— Justin Nguyen 🏈🏁 (@ZappaOMatic) August 4, 2022
Kyle said he was on the phone with Samantha for “five or six minutes” before he finally made it to their car.
‘Flying Blind’ at Mall Of America Shooting
“She was out before Brexton and I were and then we were able to find an exit and get out, which fortunately it was close to the exit that we were parked,” Busch continued. “So we could just get in our car and venture around and go pick her up from the exit that she exited out of, which was on the other side.”
Busch, who has 60 wins over a 20-year Cup career, said the best way to describe the Mall Of America ordeal from his end was “flying blind.”
“You have no idea what the situation really is, but it’s scary for sure,” he added. “And there’s many other people that unfortunately, you know, go through that stuff. Samantha has gotten a ton of messages that, oh, this happened to so-and-so that I know at a grocery store. This happened to so-and-so I know wherever, this happened to me.
“It’s just not fun.”
