Barrett Dodds, owner of the Brass Key antiques shop at Trolley Square, took swift action when he saw a gunman firing: he grabbed a bar stool, intending to throw it at the shooter, then directed an Ogden city policeman to the man.

Dodds tried to protect people at the mall by warning shopkeepers to lock their doors, and he watched the killer shoot a man who was already down.

The following account is pieced together from two interviews. The first, recorded by the Deseret Morning News, happened when KUTV reporter Rod Decker interviewed Dodds; the second when the newspaper asked Dodds to go over the incident again.

Dodds, a resident of Salt Lake City, was on the second floor of Trolley Square, where his shop is, when he heard gunshots.

He "ran out, looked over the edge, saw a guy with the rifle (later he said it was a shotgun) to his shoulder, shooting. ... he had a long tan trench coat, black backpack, gun to his shoulder like he was hunting — taking aim and shooting."

The gunman was "6 foot tall, long dark hair," he added. He "kept reaching into his pocket" and pulling out ammunition. "I didn't see a handgun."

Dodds turned to people in a dress store and told them to get inside and lock the door. He saw his grandfather come out of his own store, "yelled across the hall for him to get inside and shut the door."

Spectators were looking around, and he ran down the hall, telling people to get inside, lock up and hide.

At one business, "they thought I was the crazy one," he said. He yelled that they needed to lock up, and "they looked at me like I was crazy. I had to yell, 'There's a guy out there with a gun! Lock up!'

"And I think they locked up to keep me out ... "

He left as "there were more stores I had to get to."

Several stores locked up at his warning, he said. Meanwhile, he was doing his best to keep his eye on the shooter.

He witnessed him shooting a man who was down.

"When I saw him shoot him, I think the guy had already been dead and I think he was shooting him some more," Dodds said.

At some point, Dodds "grabbed a bar stool and ran back to where I saw the shooter. I didn't know what I was going to do with the bar stool, but I knew something had to be done. Too many gunshots going off, too many people."

He was on the second floor, directly above the gunman.