48 Hours - 48 Hours Live to Tell: Standoff at Trader Joe's

Episode Date: February 17, 2019

Hostages chillingly reveal the terrifying three hours they spent held captive by a gunman inside a California supermarket. CBS News' Jim Axelrod reports.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today. Even if you love the thrill of true crime stories as much as I do, there are times when you want to mix it up. And that's where Audible comes in, with all the genres you love and new ones to discover. Explore thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. Listening to Audible can lead to positive change in your mood, your habits,

and even your overall well-being. And you can enjoy Audible anytime, while doing household chores, exercising, commuting, you name it. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California. Her daughter, Erin Corwin, was missing. The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert

to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military. And when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 Hours NCIS ad-free starting October 29th on Amazon Music. Saturday, July 21st, was a really nice summer day. It was sunny, just like every single day has been since I moved here. Hello? Is everything okay?

We got a 911 call from your phone. Yes, the front house in front of me, I think my aunt's grandson just shot her. Oh my goodness. Okay, now he's leaving in her car. What kind of car? Tell me what kind of car, ma'am. It's a blue, a darn blue Camry.

The gunman shot his grandmother multiple times. That just goes to show you how dangerous the suspect is. And then leading police on a pursuit from South LA. He had a female with him. We believe that that may be his girlfriend. And I was just doing my usual Saturday thing. I went to my yoga class in the morning and then ran a couple errands. Police started searching for that car.

They found it in the Hollywood division. My friend was letting me stay at her place and I was like, okay, I'm going to go get groceries for us for the week. I love grocery shopping. It's like my hobby. I was coming right up on the Trader Joe's. I thought, oh, I'll just go in there. Whenever you go into that Trader Joe's, there are always like hundreds of people inside of it. On this given Saturday, this is where the eyes of the world turned.

Oh,. Shot fired. Broadcut. 6-8, 6-7. Shot fired. Shot fired. Offscreen, west Silver Lake Drive. My daughter and I were having an afternoon together. We were getting her ready for high school.

All right, I got my gun. . Do not, do not shoot. It was mid-afternoon when we got to the Trader Joe's. My daughter didn't have her shoes on, so I said, I'm going to go in right now and you can follow me in. He ends up crashing his car 15 to 20 yards from the front of a Trader Joe's supermarket. I was in the cheese section and I heard this loud screech. Screech was

like errrr. Boom of a car crash. Huge sound of impact of crunching metal and i looked at the other people who were around me and we were like what was that and then we heard gunfire someone started shouting get down get down get. And that's when everyone was either running out, taking cover. When I threw myself to the ground, I was calling my daughter at the same time. I said, stay in the car. Get down, hide in the bottom of the car, there's a shooter. The gunshots had gotten louder. Somebody yelled, the gunman is in the store.

Get your hands off! Get your hands off! Get your hands off! Get down! Oh, s***! Get down! Get down! It looked like a murder scene. It was blood everywhere. I'm sort of, like, rerunning every single previous mass shooting in my head over and over again because that's what I thought was happening. And then I hear the assailant start counting down. I'm going to shoot somebody in five, four, three, two. Five, four, three, two.

As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman. The scary cult classic was set in the Chicago housing project. It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror. Candyman. Candyman? Now we all know chanting a name won't make a killer magically appear, but did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? I was struck by both how spooky it was, but also how outrageous it was. We're going to talk to the people who were there, and we're also going to uncover the larger story.

My architect was shocked when he saw how this was created. Literally shocked. And we'll look at what the story tells us about injustice in America. If you really believed in tough on crime, then you wouldn't make it easy to crawl into medicine cabinets and kill our women. Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, early and ad-free, with a 48-hour plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. Hot shot Australian attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty. Her specialty? Representing some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals. However, while Nicola held the underworld's darkest secrets,

the most dangerous secret was her own. She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld, and she's informing on them all. I'm Marsha Clark, host of the new podcast, Informants Lawyer X. In my long career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defense attorney,

I've seen some crazy cases, and this one belongs right at the top of the list. She was addicted to the game she had created. She just didn't know how to stop. Now, through dramatic interviews and access, I'll reveal the truth behind one of the world's most shocking legal scandals. Listen to Informant's Lawyer X exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And listen to more Exhibit C true crime shows early and ad-free right now.

This situation is still unfolding right now here at the Trader Joe's. We have an active shooter. Oh, God. He went into the back of the Trader Joe's and took hostages. This is just a very tense situation. Inside the store, strangers from all walks of life would find themselves united with one desperate goal, to get out alive. I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen.

Like, none of us know what's going to happen here. Lynn Westifer is a promotions producer for the CBS station KCAL. Ardijan Balazs is a student and model. Corey Page, an environmental associate for the Walt Disney Company. And Mary Linda Moss is an art consultant. I'm between these two counters. I was exposed on two sides. Mary Linda was in the front of the store. I was terrified. I didn't know what I should do, so I just stayed there. We're still waiting to see what is going on inside the store. There was a lot of commotion that I could not see, but I could hear. In the back of the store was Lynn.

Screaming, the sounds of pushing and shoving and running feet. 100%, I thought it was a mass shooting. Next to Lynn was Arta, who took this photo. The first thing I thought was, we're all going to die. It was mass chaos getting into the closet. People were pushing each other out of the way. Also in the back of the store, hiding in a closet with a glass window, was Corey. The closet was actually pretty small.

My knees were like, you know, almost in my mouth. I took pictures while we were in there. They are kind of like a direct reflection of what I was experiencing. Inside the closet, there were 21 people. We are fully exposed. We are sitting ducks. And then I saw the assailant.

The gun is in his right hand, and his left arm was bleeding profusely. Just blood was flowing out of it. Every person had their phones out and they were texting. They were all texting, texting, texting, and I did not have my phone. The shooter told us, get off your phones or you're gonna get killed. I quickly messaged all my family members. Get off your phones or you're going to get killed. I quickly messaged all my family members. I thought that was the last time I was going to talk to anybody.

I wish I could help her. Arta's mother, Naza Jean-Belage, was home in New York, watching the story unfold on television. The situation is still very dangerous, an active hostage situation with an active shooter. I didn't know what to do. I am not going to die here today. There's no way. No.

Do I run or do I stay here when the guy is threatening to shoot you? That's a life or death decision. I couldn't make a decision. I just was paralyzed. This may be it. I'm like, I've lived 22 years on this earth, and I was like, that might be all that I have. And that's when I started texting people. I texted my mom. I texted my friend who lived close by. Lexi, call the cops. There's a shooter inside. Help.

24-year-old Lexi Cavanaugh is Corey's best friend. Lexi, please do something. I'm so scared. He did send me several text messages that really tugged on my heartstrings. I love you with all my heart. He was reiterating that he loved me continuously. That was really what started to scare me. Lexi, I'm terrified. He was terrified enough to talk to me in this way. The assailant was clearly weak from the wound, but he kept on

looking out to the door, obviously aware that the police were out there. What the hostages did not know was that about two hours earlier, the gunman had shot his grandmother seven times. He also injured his 17-year-old girlfriend, but because she was a minor, her name and details about her injury have never been released. What happened is the gunman had had essentially a domestic dispute with his girlfriend, and his grandmother had been involved. Richard Winton covered this story for the Los Angeles Times. You can't have a more dangerous kind of gunman than someone who's already shot their nearest

and dearest. An unknown number of people are still being held hostage. Everyone was trying to assess where this was going. How many people will he kill? He looks to me and he said, come over here and massage my hand. And it felt very uncomfortable. It's not what I wanted to do, but he has a gun. He's asking me to come over. So that's what I did. He was very obsessed with talking to those he'd already done harm to. The gunman made frantic phone calls and learned his grandmother was still alive. He then started going into shock and was shivering. He said, there are some jackets down there.

And so I very specifically said, would you like me to get them? And he said, yes. And as I went, I saw a woman lying behind the manager's counter. As I walked by her, she didn't move. I looked down, and that's when I saw that she was lying in a pool of blood. And it was devastating. And it was devastating. So I said to him, there's a woman who's been shot, and she probably needs help.

And he yelled back at me, that was the cops, not me. And I said, can we get her help? Can we take her outside? And he said, okay. A Trader Joe's employee brought the dying woman outside and then ran to safety. The hostages would later learn her name was Melita Corrado, known as Mellie, the store manager. She was 27 years old. She was doing what she was doing, running out to help somebody, because that's the kind of person that she was. Mellie was caught in the crossfire between police and the gunman, hit by an officer's bullet.

And then his phone rings. It's the police. The police officer introduced himself. He was encouraging him to let everyone go. The gunman was told his girlfriend was also alive and headed into surgery. Then he made a demand. You get her on the phone with me, I'll turn myself in. And then he hung up.

He was getting really amped up. He then, within the next couple minutes, said, how many people are in the store? Bring them here. Oh, s***. Have you ever wondered who created that bottle of sriracha that's living in your fridge? Or why nearly every house in America has at least one game of Monopoly? Introducing The Best Idea Yet, a brand new podcast from Wondery and T-Boy about the surprising

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Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. We're in a single file, their hands up, and we walk from the bread aisle down and there's stuff scattered. Baskets overturned and there's abandoned purses and there's things knocked off the shelves. And it's so empty. I see blood all over the floor. It looked like a murder scene. It was blood everywhere. Arda and Lynn were among 13 hostages who were brought to the front of the store.

You look in the register, and he's sitting right there. And I saw my shopping cart that I left right in front of him. There's the gunman who's covered in a sweatshirt. He's got a hood up, and there's several people around him. You can see his gunshot wound in his arm. So I'm trying to take him in and I think I see a young female Trader Joe's employee holding his hand. I see there's this other woman who's kind of like rubbing on his back. What is going on? Like grab the gun for f*** sake. I had been massaging his shoulder.

I was trying to help ground him. Mary Linda felt she understood the gunman. She says she had a troubled childhood and began using drugs and alcohol before getting sober at the age of 18. She spent years in therapy in order to pull her life back together over the years I have been with people who have made bad choices in their life I have learned how to be present with them without judgment that allowed me to be present

with the assailant in a way that perhaps I wouldn't have been able to be. He said to me, you have nothing to do with this. I don't want to hurt you. I don't want anybody to get hurt. I then reached over and I put my hand on his heart and I looked at him in his eyes and I said, I know you have a good heart and I know you don't want to hurt anybody. And he said, you don't know what I did this morning.

And my hand still on his heart, I said, it doesn't matter. I know you have a good heart and I know you don't want to hurt anybody. He was a guy in so far over his head. And I'm glad that that woman was able to help him. At the time, I had mixed feelings about it because I just wished that someone would grab the gun and end this. That's what I kept thinking, like grab the gun. To be fair, if I had been sitting next to him, I don't know if I could have grabbed the gun. I wanted someone to do that, but I don't know if I could have done that. That's the truth. When we first got to the front, he asked the Trader Joe's employee to pick somebody from the crowd. I heard that young guy say, you want me to

choose? And I thought, choose what? And I sort of put my head down because I was like, he's maybe trying to ask him to pick someone that he wants to shoot next. And he turned and he pointed at this boy who was like 13, 14. And he said, I choose you. And I thought, choose him for what?

I wanted to just like grab him and say, no, don't choose him. What is happening? And then the Trader Joe's guy said, he's letting you go. And I thought, oh, you could go out with your hands up. I've never seen so much of a police presence in my life. While waiting for texts from her friend Corey, Lexi, who lived about five minutes from the Trader Joe's,

was glued to the television coverage. Police are getting into position. They are on tactical alert. Many more officers. I saw multiple helicopters above my house. There was the SWAT team. There was a tank on the street. It looked like an apocalyptic event.

I definitely could hear people crying in the closet. I couldn't really pinpoint who because I couldn't see people's faces. It's sort of like this wave. It would get super quiet, and then it would get louder. People would get more comfortable, and they'd whip out their phone again and start having a conversation with a loved one or the police. And then we would hear stuff from the front of the store, and so then we would all get really quiet, and it went on like that.

The reason why I was pushing myself further and further back under this sink was because I was convinced that there was not only one, but multiple active shooters, and it was only a matter of time before they were going to find us. We were just waiting for the phone call with the girlfriend. We just sat there waiting. Surprisingly, no one was, like, crying or screaming or yelling. By now, approximately an hour had passed. In addition to the boy, other hostages had been allowed to go.

A Trader Joe's employee was trying to keep up morale. He turned around and he said to us in the calmest voice, it's going to be okay, he's letting people go, I'm going to be the last one out. There was this woman around 30 years old. She was clearly terrified. So I asked him if he would let this woman go. Within a minute or two, he said yes. When she gets right in front of the door, the automatic door opens,

and the assailant yells, stop. As she was standing at the door, the door kept opening and closing, and he said, do not walk out. Come back here, and she took a step back towards him, and the doors opened again. He said, stop opening the doors. She looks at me like, what am I supposed to do? So I shook my head, yes. And she just jetted.

She ran out of there. And I thought, oh, great. Now we're all going to get shot. He said, she left. I told her to stop, and she left. Then he asked the Trader Joe's employee who was standing there, do you have keys? He said, lock the damn door.

When that front door locked, it was like, wham. You know, it's game over. Outside, the SWAT team made its next move. The assailant looks out the door, and he says, what is that sniper doing on the roof? And sure enough, there was a sniper on the roof of the cheese store next door to the Trader Joe's. The gun aimed right at us. The assailant starts yelling to the police on the phone, what is that guy doing there? Get the guy off the roof. And they're screaming, get that guy off the roof. You got to get him off the roof.

What they couldn't see was that there were three sharpshooters on the roof. You got to get him off the roof. What they couldn't see was that there were three sharpshooters on the roof. I'm yelling to the sergeant and the sergeant's like, let me see if I can reach them. Why won't you get the guy off the roof? Get him off. Get him off. Why won't you do it? We were in danger in a way we had not been before that. This yelling went on for five minutes. Do you know how long five minutes is in hostage time? I was ready to run. Finally, the gunman is so aggravated that he says, if you don't get him off the roof,

I'm going to shoot somebody. And that's when he starts counting down from five. I'm gonna shoot somebody in five, four, and I'm saying get him off the roof, get him off the roof, three. When he got to two, the sniper climbed off the roof. Do you know how he got off the roof? Another officer climbed up and tapped him on the arm. Like, did his walkie-talkie not get charged? How did that happen? It almost was it for somebody. After the sniper got off the roof, there was this silence. It was like the most scary sound of nothing. We're like, okay, there's no hope in here. There's no hope.

Mary Linda, who'd been trying to keep the gunman calm, also acted as an intermediary between him and the LAPD during their many phone calls. And so I said to the phone to the sergeant, I said, you need to know that we are all very, very, very scared. And it is because of what just happened. Do you know what it feels like to be sitting on the floor of a grocery store very scared and it is because of what just happened. Do you know what it feels like to be sitting on the floor of a grocery store and you get increasingly afraid that the people who are there who are supposed to save you

are making it worse for you? It gives me no pleasure to beat up on the LAPD but I would not be doing my job as a witness if I didn't say what happened here. The hostages see the incident in one way, and SWAT officers see it in a different way. The LAPD declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation.

Richard Winton says in the age of mass shootings, police are pressured to act quickly. The protocols are very to act quickly. The protocols are very different these days. Post-Columbine, no one waits. It's try and rush in. Here, I think they ultimately decided it wasn't a mass shooter scenario, that he was more a man who has some history

of mental struggles, and that's where I think they kind of make the fine line decision, don't rush in, let's try and talk him down. But Winton says the LAPD didn't know what to make of Mary Linda. SWAT negotiators are used to dealing with the person directly. They want to hear their voice. They want to know what their tone is. They want to understand what's going on exactly from them. We've still got about 20 to 30 still in the building.

Back in the closet, the hostages watch snippets of the drama in silence. I think when you are surrounded by 20-plus people in a room that is no bigger than like an average closet. Everyone's deepest and darkest personalities will come out. This guy, there were like five or so knives on a magnet on the wall because it was the food prep area for where they give out the samples.

And he and another person grabbed a knife and they were like, if things go south, like we're going to take him down. And it immediately terrified me because I knew we needed to stay as quiet and as undiscovered as possible. In the front of the store, a new LAPD negotiator called to say an officer was being sent to the hospital to talk to the gunman's girlfriend. It was starting to feel like they were just delaying. And he was getting more frustrated.

Our lives are on the line for a phone call. Then, more pressure from the LAPD. The assailant looks towards the door. What is that truck doing there? And I look, and there is a SWAT truck right in front of the door. And he starts with the new negotiator. What are you doing? What's that SWAT truck doing there?

Get it out of there. with the new negotiator, what are you doing? What's that SWAT truck doing there? Get it out of there. And so they back it up, like, a foot, and then stop. And I think he realized that there was not going to be a better way out of here. He said, get me my call with my girlfriend. Okay, that works for me. Just, okay, do me a favor, just hang tight. Send handcuffs in. Says if you guys could throw a, throw a set of handcuffs in.

I will let myself be handcuffed and give over my gun and I will turn myself in. And then he hung up the phone. I was like, that was it. That was the solution. I was like, that was it. That was the solution. We've got our way out. The suspect is barricaded. Police are trying to get him to surrender. As the frightening standoff continued, the frustrated gunman repeated his demands to the police negotiator. So the assailant said, send in the handcuffs,

get my call with my girlfriend, and I'll turn myself in. The gunman believed that if he walked out handcuffed, he was less likely to be shot by the police. So there was a long negotiation to try to get the police to give a pair of handcuffs. Finally, they agreed. And a young man who had been a customer in the store, Mike, was going to walk to the front door and he was going to get the handcuffs. Mike D'Angelo had been quietly assisting Mary Linda from the beginning. Mike had already been going and getting things for the assailant.

I mean, we really depended on each other. I told the negotiator, Mike is coming out, he's coming to get the handcuffs. So Mike starts to walk towards the door. The Trader Joe's employee unlocks the door. Were you scared? Yeah. We didn't know what was going to happen next.

This is not the suspect. No, this is not the suspect. And then I see the SWAT team member start gesturing strongly for Mike to come out. And both Mike and I at the same time start yelling. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm like, I'm into the phone. No, no, no, no, no, no.

Throw the handcuffs in. Now Mike bravely is standing at the doorway saying, give me the handcuffs in. Now Mike, bravely, is standing at the doorway saying, give me the handcuffs. All the while, officers are trying to get him to leave. And I said, there's no way I'm leaving these people here. The gunman was saying, don't you go out that door. You better bring those handcuffs back here. He had already said, I'm going to get myself handcuffed.

I'm going to turn myself in. The trust that we had developed was key in him following through with what he had said. After many more minutes of yelling, screaming, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, that panic, just that screeching, losing your voice kind of shouting, throw the handcuffs, throw the handcuffs. I'm yelling out the door. I'm yelling to the phone. There was this thunk as the handcuffs hit the linoleum. And the assailant jumps and tenses. And I, and I'm like, it's a handcuff. And I say, Mike, pick up the handcuffs. Show them it's the handcuffs.

And then Mike walked back in. And then we have the handcuffs. What a hero. I didn't want to let the people down or anybody to get hurt, so I stayed. There was a lot of reluctance on the part of the police to give him the handcuffs. He could take the handcuffs and handcuff himself to a hostage and make them a human shield.

So they had to really buy into this idea that he would handcuff himself. They've got the suspect on the phone, but they're trying to get the girlfriend to talk to him or something. He then is getting more and more frustrated with them not getting his girlfriend on the phone. The assailant said to me,

they're not trying to get her. I said, well, of course they are. This is our way out. This is a guy who's saying he's going to let himself out if you get him a phone call, right? When we were waiting to hear about his girlfriend, he said, it's all over.

It doesn't matter what happens to me. I'm in for life. I said to him, I had known people who had been in prison for many years and who had made lives for themselves inside prison and that there was always hope. And he said to me, I wish I had met you earlier. I just needed somebody to talk to. At just about that time, the negotiator called. The police had finally contacted the gunman's injured girlfriend.

She recorded a short message. And she said, I'm okay, go outside. I'm okay, go outside. She said it three times. And that clearly gave him the relief that he was looking for. He never asked again for a phone call. That was enough. With his demands met, he released more hostages. Arda noticed a mother and daughter were about to be let go. At that point, something told me, pretend she's your mom. So I grabbed her hand and she grabs mine back.

The gunman then asked, is this also your daughter? And she said, yes, this is my daughter. And he said, you could get up and go with your sister. And just like that, Arda was free, allowed to leave with her sister. I just walked out as fast as I can. Moments later, the woman who risked her life pretending to be Arda's mom was also released. I gave her the biggest hug in the whole world. And then Arda called her real mom.

Everything is okay because I got my daughter alive. It was just a lot of tears at that point. It was relief, but it was also, wow, that was the closest I've ever been to death. Next, it was Lynn's turn. Most of the other hostages, when they were leaving, turned to him and they said, thank you, thank you. I was just getting madder and madder. And when I stood up, I very

intentionally did not look at him because I thought if I turned around to say anything to him, I wouldn't be saying thank you. I'd be saying, f*** you. And that would be bad for everybody. So I just looked straight ahead and out I went. I just looked straight ahead and out I went. The police had negotiated a plan with the assailant to leave the store and surrender safely. But he was still there with four hostages, still holding the gun. He was afraid to walk down the long aisle to the door where they could see him. He was afraid he was going to get shot.

I actually turned to him. I took his face in my hands. I said, do you trust me? And he said yes. But he's still thinking that they're going to shoot him. So I looked at the other three, and I say, should we go out together? And they all, three, shake their head, yes, we'll go out together. So I ask him if he's ready to be handcuffed, and he says yes. And then I ask him if I can take the gun, and he says yes. So I then ask him, are you ready?

He said, I need a little bit more time. As we're waiting, I heard a noise on the roof, and it scared me. So I didn't ask for permission. I said, it's time to do this now. They were close to getting him out, but I don't know. The negotiator said, okay, we're ready. I looked to the other three. We all stand up together.

I'm in front of him. The others kind of circle behind him. I see some shadows. We walk down, and we get to the door. The door opens. Here they come. We take a step out. Everyone expected him to come last on his own,

but they kind of came with him, almost like making sure he was okay, because he was bleeding. We are descended upon a lot of SWAT team members. As the hostages were taken away, the gunman, whose name is Gene Atkins, surrendered without a fight. I was aware of them taking Gene over to handle him,

but I was really, like, it was done. That's when I felt the relief. But for Corey and the 20 others who were still hiding in the closet, it would take 15 long minutes before the SWAT team freed them. I put my hands up and we filed out of the closet. I just immediately started crying. Every bit of emotion that I had bottled up because I didn't want to either make noise or I didn't want to express how I was really feeling

while I was inside of there, it all came out. Down the street, waiting for Corey, was his best friend Lexi, whose text messages kept him calm during his darkest moments. We just held each other so close, and that's when I cracked. I could feel all of that hardened adrenaline wear off and relax,

and I just sort of, like, melted and broke down a little bit. I told him I loved him a million times. Well, the good news is, again, it appears that this has been brought to a little bit. I told him I loved him a million times. Well, the good news is, again, it appears that this has been brought to a peaceful end. That suspect, we're told, emerged from the trailer. It had been more than three grueling hours. Mary Linda, who had worked so hard to keep everyone safe, was free. I saw my daughter, my husband, and my son. My daughter starts running towards me. She runs into my arms and I hug her,

and then I hug my husband and he says, "'I am so proud of you and so mad at you. The next day, an impromptu memorial was set up outside Trader Joe's to honor Mellie Corrado. The Corrado family has lost their sweet, funny, and loving daughter, sister, and friend. Seven days later, her family held a public funeral. I don't know where you go when you die, but I hope when I do, I end up with Nelly. Even though a police bullet killed Mellie, Jean Atkins, now 29, was charged with her death for setting the events in motion. Count six, attempted murder of a police officer. Count eight, attempted murder of a police officer. Count 18, false imprisonment of a hostage.

Atkins was charged with a total of 51 felony counts, including attempted murder and kidnapping. Before this happened, Atkins had only minor scrapes with the law. He was raised by the very woman he's now accused of shooting, his 77-year-old grandmother, who survived. He's looking at a possible sentence of life in prison. Hi. Hi. Welcome. Please come in. Nice to see you. Good to see you, too. Please come in. Thank you.

Hi, Mary Linda. To work through their trauma, Mary Linda, Lynn, Cory, and many of the other hostages from that day get together regularly to talk. Why that Trader Joe's? That day. Why what? Why was I there? And to heal.

I'm just now starting to process it. Just now. I'm shocked at some of the feelings that I have in thinking about him and thinking about the incident. The really remarkable part of this story, sort of the diamond in the rough. You went home for the holidays? I have this whole group of, like, new best friends from all different, you know, age ranges,

different backgrounds that we just all happen to be in the same place at the same time. It's really been everything for me. Just to feel whole again, It's kind of miraculous. I didn't actually think that was possible. There was a time when I thought, this is done. Who I am is gone.

You have these moments where it's emotional and you think, God, I can't believe I'm alive. And then there's other times where the sunlight will spike off of something and it's just beautiful. And you think, oh my God, I'm alive. Bail for Gene Atkins was set at $15 million. Mary Linda eventually plans to visit him in prison. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a quick survey at wondery.com slash survey.