NEWPORT BEACH – Subdued shoppers returned to Fashion Island on Sunday, carrying bags, sipping coffee in the drizzly air, and visiting the enormous Christmas tree.

But even as visitors checked items off their shopping lists, many said their minds were on the 50 shots fired in a mall parking lot Saturday afternoon and the slaying of 20 schoolchildren and six adults at an elementary school in Connecticut on Friday.

The suspect from Saturday’s Fashion Island shooting was being held by the Sheriff’s Department on Sunday, with his bail set at $250,000. Garden Grove resident Marcos Gurrola, 42, has been charged with shooting at an inhabited dwelling.

Click here to watch a video about the shots fired at Fashion Island.

Police say Gurrola stood in the Macy’s parking lot and fired about 50 rounds from a semiautomatic handgun into the air, stopping to reload the weapon with multiple magazines. Gurrola is a licensed security guard, according to state records, whose firearm permit expired in 2001.

As shots rang into the air Saturday, holiday shoppers scrambled for their lives. The weekend included what is usually one of the busiest retail days of the year.

Some shoppers Sunday expected heavier crowds just nine days before Christmas.

Garden Grove residents Cesar and Holly Morales, both 31, said they noticed many empty parking spaces in one garage.

“I was kind of a little bit curious to see how people were going to react,” Cesar Morales said. “Just walking in we tried to take notice of what security measures were in place. Everyone is just going about their business.”

Holly Morales said she felt more protective of their two children, who attended a Chargers game Sunday with a relative.

“Maybe if that shooting didn’t happen on Friday and then yesterday, I wouldn’t be so nervous,” she said.

The suspect fired near the eastern entrance to Macy’s at the crowded outdoor mall, said Kathy Lowe, Newport Beach police spokeswoman. No one was hit by the shots, Lowe said. One person suffered a minor injury running in the aftermath of the shooting, but that person was treated and released at the scene.

The shooter put the gun down and was intercepted and arrested without a struggle by two Newport Beach bike officers, Lowe said. Originally, Gurrola was reported to be white, but authorities have since said he is Latino.

Lindsay Ross, 53, learned of the shooting during breakfast Sunday with his family at Le Pain Quotidien, near the parking lot where the shots were fired.

A waiter recounted the horror from the day before, Ross said, when employees locked themselves in the kitchen.

“The whole thing is just so sad,” Ross said.

Ross, along with his wife and two daughters, is visiting from British Columbia, Canada, which has strict gun-control laws.

“The increase in the number of these incidents makes it very difficult to know how to protect yourself,” he said. “I don’t think the answer is getting more guns.”

Gurrola doesn’t appear to have a criminal record. He is set to appear in Central Jail Court on Tuesday.

Rosette Koorajian of Corona del Mar sipped coffee outside Nordstrom on Sunday and expressed relief that no one was killed. She marveled at the lack of crowds.

“It’s Christmas. This place should be packed,” she said.

Lowe said the first 911 call was made at 4:35 p.m. Saturday.

In the parking lot, police focused their attention on a white Honda Civic with an exposed black handgun sitting on its trunk. Shell casings were on the ground next to the car. A black jacket and Lakers cap were also sitting on the trunk of the car.

One witness said she saw the suspect in a white shirt shooting into the air. He wasn’t aiming at anyone.

“I thought he was joking,” said Laby Shayan. “I thought it was a toy. Oh my God. It was a real gun.”

Witnesses said the shooting was especially scary because the thoughts of the elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn., were fresh in their minds.

Hanaa Escatel, who had been Christmas shopping Saturday with her 11-year-old son, Robert, said her mind flashed to the horrible images of the day before.

“I thought of yesterday,” said Escatel of Huntington Beach. “And then I thought, Oh my God, it’s happening here.”

Contact the writer: mreicher@ocregister.com or cperkes@ocregister.com