When 75-year-old Milad Mouawad, of Waterbury, immigrated to the U.S. from war-torn Lebanon in 1975 -- at the start of a bloody civil war in his homeland -- he had seen plenty of gun violence "up close and personal.”

"Those memories all came back to me last night here at the Waterbury Mall," Mouawad told News 12.

The Lebanese American says he was sitting in the food court at Brass Mill Shopping Center when he heard seven shots ring out at 4:40 p.m. Tuesday.

"I just ran, like everybody ran," Mouawad said. "It was scary -- very scary.”

Tajuan Washington, 19, of Waterbury, surrendered himself after shooting five people -- one man whom he knew, and four females who were with the male victim, according to police.

The shooting happened in "the central part of the shopping center" and sent people running for cover, officials said.

Police say the shooting was not random and stemmed from a disagreement between Washington and the male victim.

The victims range in age from 20 to 26, according to officials.

Authorities say Washington left the property after the shooting but later turned himself in, just as police were surveilling his home.

Three of the five victims have been released from the hospital and the other two are in stable condition -- though one of the female victims was shot in the spine, officials said.

Washington's bond was set at $2 million.

"It is not OK to come to a mall and then find yourself a victim of gun violence. It is not OK for someone to come to work and find themselves hiding," said Connecticut State Police Commissioner Ronnell Higgins.