Business near Killeen Mall left confused and uninformed during crash

KILLEEN, Texas (KWTX)— Smoke Star Vape Shop, located on the strip across from the Killeen Mall, said it was blindsided by the car crash into the interior mall on Dec. 21.

Smoke Star supervisor, Kirkland Adams, said he expected that day to be a normal shift.

“I expected more traffic coming through when I first came here around 3 p.m.,” Adams said. “Then it just sort of went dead.”

Adams said a customer informed the shop of the incident.

“No one came over from the mall to let us know anything like that of what was happening or when they shut down the streets,” Adams said. “We had to find out ourselves.”

Adams was shocked to learn of the crash.

“Some people were telling me he drove through the mall hitting people,” Adams said. “That’s something scary to even think about.”

Customers began calling the store confused abut the closure.

“We had customers call asking if we could bring product own to the edge of the road to sell product,” Adams said.

The Killeen Police Department blocked access to both the Killeen Mall and the strip of businesses across the street. Adams said neither the mall nor the Killeen Police Department notified the business about the road closures.

The Killeen Police Department said in a statement that it is standard procedure for law enforcement to set up a large perimeter for public safety.

The Killeen Mall was unavailable to comment.

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