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Witnesses Recount Frightening Scene After Deputies Killed

ABINGDON, Md. (WJZ) -- Two Harford County sheriff's deputies are shot and killed at a busy shopping center in Abingdon. The gunman is also dead. It all unfolded inside the Panera in Abingdon.

Amy Yensi with what stunned witnesses saw as the shootout unfolded.

Witnesses say David Evans was acting very suspiciously inside the Panera before pulling out his gun. They never suspected he would shoot two deputies.

RELATED: 2 Deputies Killed In Shopper Center Shootout; Suspect Also Dead

The first shot was fired inside the restaurant. A deputy made his way to the suspect after getting a call that there was a problem at the Panera Bread.

Witnesses say the officer asked the man sitting in the back of the room, 'How was your day,'  and the suspect immediately pulled out a gun and shot the deputy without hesitation.

"They were going to try to get some answers out of him to see if he was OK or if he wanted some help. But after that, he just shot the guy and ran out the back door," Sophia Faulkner said.

Faulkner was there having lunch with her mom and almost sat down next to the suspect, but said they got a bad feeling from him and moved away.

Within minutes, she heard a loud pop inside the Abingdon store. The panic then set in.

"And everybody was just kind of running to one side of the store and families were just kind of huddling and hiding together," said Faulkner.

After running, we're told the suspect shot a second sheriff's deputy before he was shot and killed himself.

RELATED: Fellow Officers Pay Their Respects To Fallen Sheriff's Deputies

The violent chain reaction unfolded as shoppers in the parking lot were caught in the crime scene.

As police descended on the crime scene, across the shopping center, some stores were forced into lockdown, as customers waited in fear.

"Just being unsure about what the scene was outside I think was some of the most concerning parts of being locked in the break room with everybody," said one witness.

That woman hunkered down in the back room of the Old Navy. She says she's still coming to grips with what happened, and doesn't want to share the frightening experience with her young daughter.

"There's part of me that really doesn't want to even share what happened. So yeah, I'm still thinking about that," she said.

Especially difficult--the gnawing feeling that it can happen anywhere.

Witnesses say Evans was actually a regular at that Panera Bread. They shudder at the thought that they, too, could have been hurt.

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