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Members of the New York Giants, as well as their radio broadcast team, were present during the shooting at the Mall of America last Friday.
Bob Papa and Howard Cross, the Giants broadcasters on WFAN, along with Giants.com writer John Schmeelk, were at the Twin Cities Grill at the mall before the restaurant suddenly became crowded, Papa told WFAN's morning show "Boomer and Gio" on Friday.
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MetLife Stadium during the first quarter of the game between the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys on January 3, 2021, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
Papa was told by a waitress that there had been a shooting and that the mall was on lockdown. Papa added that he was unsure whether it was because of a mass shooting or an "isolated incident," but his partner Cross, also a former Giant, had a plan in place.
"There was no exit. We had just finished out meal, they were starting to bus the table and Cross was like, ‘I’m keeping the steak knife,'" Papa said. "So we grab that, and then he started determining which tables we were gonna flip and get behind. And then I noticed that there was a little waiter stand in the back of the restaurant in this small little room with benches and stuff in front of it. I'm like, 'Cross, I'm crawling in there.'"
Added Papa: "It was pretty tense for a while," and "it was pretty scary for about an hour until we got out of there."
MULTIPLE NEW YORK GIANTS PLAYERS INSIDE MINNESOTA'S MALL OF AMERICA DURING FATAL SHOOTING: REPORT
The shooting left a 19-year-old dead at the largest shopping center in the United States, according to police. It was the third shooting at the mall this year, and three people have been charged in connection with the shooting.
The Giants were staying at a nearby hotel, and multiple players, as well as general manager Joe Schoen, went inside sometime prior to the start of the shooting, a team spokesperson confirmed to The Associated Press.
Officials lock down the west wing of the Mall of America after a shooting was reported Friday, Dec. 23, 2022 in Bloomington, Minn. A shooting sent the Mall of America into lockdown Friday evening, mall officials and police in suburban Minneapolis said. (Alex Kormann/Star Tribune via AP))
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The Giants lost their game to the Minnesota Vikings the next day, 27-24, after Greg Joseph's walk-off 61-yard field goal.
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