Mother who went into labor during mall shooting speaks out

Charlotte, NC (FOX 46) The pregnant woman who went into labor while inside Northlake Mall during the shooting speaks to FOX46 about her experience.

The young mother says she feared for her life and her unborn son, not knowing if they would both survive the frantic scene.

Christa Dunbar was a few days past her due date. She decided that walking around a busy mall would be good exercise to kick start contractions.That seemed like a good idea until gunshots erupted inside the busy mall.

"My friend said run run. I was like why? So I looked behind me and there was pure chaos. Everybody was grabbing their children and running," Dunbar said.

In the officer-involved deadly shooting, police say an off-duty officer in the mall heard gunshots and responded to the scene.

The officer confronted the shooting suspect who pointed a gun in the officer's direction. That's when the officer fatally shot the suspect, identified as Daquan Westbrook.

In the middle of the chaos, Dunbar fell twice on her stomach trying to run for safety

"I was afraid because I hadn't felt him move for it had to be a good twenty minutes," she said.

She took cover behind a desk inside a store and started going into labor. The ambulance arrived, along with her boyfriend who rushed over after hearing what happened.

After two days in labor, she finally gave birth to Mylo, a baby boy.

"He's my world. He means everything to me," she said.

Dunbar says one day when Mylo is older, she'll have to tell him where she was when she started going into labor.

Despite the circumstances, she's glad her baby is healthy - calling it a miracle.

For more stories and videos, please visit FOX 46.