NewsChannel 5's Wanda Moore was born and raised in Germany and still has many friends in Berlin. After the attack in Berlin, she spent the better portion of the day trying to make sure they were safe.
This is her account.
It was in the middle of the afternoon when I got an alert on my phone about an attack in Berlin.
My heart raced and in a panic, I tried to contact many of my friends in Germany's capital.
I texted friends, messaged them on Facebook and used Facebook's Safety Check.
One of my friends, Marie Häusner, lives not far from the Christmas market where it all happened.
During a break in between live shots for another story, I finally reached her through FaceTime.
She said she was home when she heard sirens.
"I thought there was a big accident on the street or something like that," Häusner said.
Then she heard helicopters over her house and realized it wasn't just a car accident. She turned on the news to learn what had happened.
"I learned that there was a terrorist attack, right around the corner actually," Häusner said.
Just a mile away from her, 12 people had died and 48 were wounded.
"I was just shocked," Häusner said.
Panic settled in for her when she tried to call her parents.
"They were at the theater and I couldn't reach them," Häusner said.
When she finally heard from them, Berlin Police told everyone in the area to stay in their homes.
"It really scared me," Häusner said. "You hear about things like this on the news but suddenly it's just around the corner," Häusner said.
