CLEVELAND — A mother says chaos in Cleveland’s Public Square Saturday night left her daughters terrified.
Two boys, ages 15 and 13, were wounded in a shooting that took place about an hour after the annual tree lighting.
RELATED: Two teens shot, injured in Public Square Saturday night
Gunshots were captured on video from Old Stone Church.
The 15-year-old is in serious condition. The younger boy is recovering at home.
It was a night Allison Gilgenbach won’t forget and the same goes for her two girls.
“My daughters were like take us home we don’t want to be down here they were really scared,” Gilgenbach said.
Gilgenbach says a fun-filled day in downtown Cleveland was ruined at the end.
“I don’t think I’d go back anytime soon for sure,” Gilgenbach said.
Gilgenbach says she wanted her girls, ages 8 and 10, to experience the tree lighting on Public Square. They’re from Grafton and she and her husband decided to get a hotel to make the most of it Saturday.
“They visited with the reindeer. They had hot chocolate,” Gilgenbach said.
Their favorite part was the music at Old Stone Church.
“Had a tour of the upstairs they thought that was super cool,” Gilgenbach said.
After the tree lighting, they went to Tower City to visit with Kris Kringle.
Gilgenbach says she remembers the downstairs packed with groups of kids just hanging out with no adults around.
The family first tried to leave by the casino doors.
“All of a sudden, everybody just started like running towards us... We picked up the kids,” Gilgenbach.
She says they found a place to hide.
“There’s like a wall there, and we ran into some people, and I picked up the kids and held both of them because we had no idea what was going on,” Gilgenbach said.
An hour after the tree lighting, police say officers walking in Public Square went to a report of teens fighting when the teens were shot and two more teen suspects were arrested.
Gilgenbach says she didn’t hear gunshots.
“We just know we were like running the other way,” Gilgenbach said.
It was only just last month, Gilgenbach says her daughters went through active shooter training.
“It’s so sickening but I’m like I’m glad we kind of did it together with them the first time I don’t know,” Gilgenback said.
She now has questions for Mayor Bibb.
"What's the plan? I don’t know you have to have a plan with everything. What’s his plan?
How is this going to get any better? And why would people want to go back downtown with their families?” Gilgenbach said.
Watch our initial report below:
