Fox River Mall (File Photo)
GRAND CHUTE, WI (WTAQ) – While the focus around what happened at the Fox River Mall on Sunday has centered on who pulled the trigger, why they did it, and where they are…one man is sharing a bit of a different view.
“‘You were there, what happened? What did you see?’ I guess I just wanted to change the story,” said Don Dains of Appleton. “Just slow down a little bit and look around…There’s always good in anything if you look for it. I had something I wanted to say and a story that was different from what everyone was going to be telling.”
Dains was sheltered in place in the basement of Scheel’s after the shots rang out in the food court Sunday afternoon. He says he never heard the shots, and was confused when employees seemed off while he spoke with them. Mid-conversation, Dains says he was ushered from the upper level of the store into the basement as a precautionary measure.
“Everyone kept calm, for sure. And the store employees, I can’t say enough,” Dains said.
From the employees to other shoppers and even responding law enforcement, he says that statement rang true throughout the day.
You can listen to the full interview with Dains here:
Once he was in the basement with a number of other people, the group began piecing together what was going on. Several people recalled hearing the shots being fired.
“There were a couple people with Internet access, and they found people saying it was just an isolated incident but they haven’t apprehended him yet,” Dains told WTAQ News. “At some point it was obvious what we were doing there. We were just staying out of the way. They said the SWAT team was on site, and it was good to see that response and hear about that, and just knowing.”
But it wasn’t long after they had been brought to a training room for safety that Dains says he started to see small things that sparked his interest.
“We were down there just a few minutes and some employees came down with some water, ‘We’ve got waters if anyone wants one. They’re not cold, but they’re wet!'” Dains said. “She came out with this box of Lego’s, because there were a bunch of kids down there, and she just drops this big box and was like ‘These are Lego’s. Kids love them.’ The next thing you know, here come a bunch of kids going ‘Well, which Lego’s you got?'”
Moments later, Dains noticed one boy had already built a house with his Lego’s.
“The parents were doing what parents are supposed to do. They were reassuring their children playing with them, keeping them occupied and keeping them calm,” he noted. “Nobody was getting rambunctious and somebody from the Scheel’s employees was smart enough to put on a movie, just to keep people’s minds occupied.”
Another piece of the puzzle came when Dains noted the calm and respectful demeanor that seemed to flourish among those in the room.
“There was an older gentleman who was standing and leaning against the wall, and he just looked like he was having trouble standing. But I don’t know how many people offered him a chair. There were plenty of chairs there if you wanted one. There is another gentleman standing next to me and to someone said ‘Oh, do you want this chair?’ And he said ‘There’s one right there if I want to, I’m fine thanks’,” Dains recalled. “People could have been cranky – Why are we sitting down here? Why can’t we go? What’s going on? I want to leave, there’s something I’m supposed to be at, I can’t sit here.’ But nobody did that. They basically just understood…People were trying to wear their masks because we’re in the middle of this pandemic. They’re being mindful of that. I saw people all around me doing the right thing, or at least to the best of their ability.”
Dains says even as they were lining up to leave and he ran to share the message further back and returned to the line, he was met with kindness from people he had never met.
“I turned around and I got in line, and the guy in front of me was like ‘Oh no, you were up there!’ He wanted me to jump forward 5 spaces because I just gave up my spot. That just shows again, one more small act of kindness. It’s little, but it was there,” Dains said. “If everybody bands together looking at some of the good things, and people don’t get crazy, we’re gonna be fine. We have good people all around us. The world can’t go bad, it just can’t.”
While the incident leading to the experience was tragic, Dains says everything he saw gave him a glimpse of hope.
“We’re bombarded with the news and the bad media, and I’m sure there’s bad things that are going to continue to happen. But because it’s so easily accessible, so easily spread, we see those things and we’ve got to put in our head and remember, that’s not the world. What you’re seeing is a very small minority,” Dains said. “Some of the stuff that we’re seeing in the news, and rightfully so, it’s news and needs to be covered and hopefully leads will come and help bring him to justice. But let’s understand where the vast majority stand, it’s not on this side or that side, it’s together.”
And that sentiment continued, even after he shared the story on Facebook.
“And even on social media, the platform I went to, there’s that amount of bickering back and forth and disagreements – when realistically, you know that it’s not there,” Dains said. “Maybe I don’t agree with them, but the interesting thing is [that] every one of those people commented. Every one of them. And said ‘glad you’re safe.'”
His final message for everyone, whether you’re barricaded in the basement of the Fox River Mall, talking to people at the bar, or commenting on someone’s Facebook status, is the same.
“If you care for your neighbor and we look out for each other, and we take care of each other, everything is going to be fine. And that’s what happened there.”
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