Mass shootings leave many feeling anxious as experts debate protecting 'soft targets'
LOS ANGELES - At a Temecula, Calif., Walmart, police on Monday responded to reports of an armed shoplifter.
But on social media, concerned shoppers worried that something much worse was going on, sending panicked messages on Twitter and Facebook and warning others to stay away from the store.
One Twitter user wrote, "A coward is trying to be a copycat from this weekend."
No one was injured, and the Riverside County Sheriff's Department found that the weapon in question was a BB gun.
But the incident spoke to the heightened tensions after back-to-back shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, nearly a week after communities were left reeling by a shooting at the Garlic Festival in nearby Gilroy.
The shootings all occurred in public places - a Walmart, a popular bar and a
