“This is not a test.”

Those five words are eerily similar to the “This is not a drill” false ballistic missile alert of Jan. 13, 2018, that plunged recipients of the alarming text across the isles into 38 minutes of fear and uncertainty before it was retracted.

On Wednesday, some employees and customers at the International Market Place in Waikiki experienced similar moments of terror when the shopping center’s security system sent out a false “active shooter” alert. The alert, which took roughly 13 minutes to retract, was transmitted to store phones and manager’s personal phones at noon:

“International Market Place emergency alert. An active shooter has been reported at International Market Place. Shots have been fired. Go into the nearest room and lock the door or if near an exit leave the shopping center immediately. Follow instructions from authorities. This is not a test. Wait for the all-clear from International Market Place or local authorities before returning to the shopping center.”

Honolulu Police Department responded quickly and determined it was not an active-shooter scene. International Market Place’s security sent out the false alert during a routine test when a “message was inadvertently sent to those registered in our system,” the shopping center said.

Jerry Dolak, president of the Hawaii Hotel & Visitor Industry Security Association, said Wednesday’s incident was “almost the exact same thing as the missile crisis only on a smaller scale.”

“This will traumatize some people who believed it for the short time the alert was active. In the case of the nuclear attack, some people were probably like, ‘No way, this isn’t real,’ but an active shooter is a much more realistic situation,” Dolak said.

Employees at some shops locked the doors before they were told the alarm was false. While some businesses protected customers, some reportedly told shoppers to leave the property. The threat never went out over a public announcement system so many customers walked around the shopping center oblivious to what had transpired.

“Oh, my God. It was terrifying,” said one store manager, who asked not to be identified. “People already are stressed. When they hear the words ‘active shooter’ that just sends their anxiety levels to the moon. Something like this happens every day somewhere. It seemed all too real.”

Bonnie Rauch, apparel department supervisor for Anthropologie, said she didn’t get an in-store call and only learned of the incident from her manager, who had received the alert on her personal phone.

“The store manager actually got the call and she was just starting her walk-through of our procedures when we got the notice that it was a false alarm,” Rauch said.

Rauch said Anthropologie remained open and visitor traffic was largely unaffected by the day’s event.

“I didn’t see any panic or anything … I think I saw one store across from us closing their doors but that was it,” Rauch said.

Moiliili resident Moses Gouveia, who was eating lunch at Mi Almita Cantina’s outdoor patio on the mauka side of International Market Place, said he was unaware of the alert.

“Nobody told us anything. There wasn’t any commotion,” Gouveia said. “I’m glad. I didn’t need to hear another false alert. After the missile alert, it would break all my confidence.”

William Quan, a visitor from Boston, said he saw a few police officers but that “nothing looked alarming” at International Market Place.

International Market Place said afterward that “we could confirm that nobody was in danger at any time, and we sincerely apologize to anyone impacted by this error. We are committed to reviewing our protocol to ensure this never happens again.”

Dolak said the Hawaii Hotel & Visitor Industry Security Association is likely to revisit the incident. The organization also scrutinized the false missile alert and last month’s security scare at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport. The latter incident was prompted when an external battery charger malfunctioned at a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint, causing the bars connected by nylon belts at the checkpoint to make a popping sound that some mistook for gunshots, he said.

“There’s a saying: ‘Don’t be paranoid, be prepared’; that’s what we need to do here,” Dolak said.

The onus is on every individual to gain situational awareness of their surroundings, he said.

“When you go somewhere always scout out the exits, the fire extinguishers and the automated external defibrillators,” he said. “Most stores have plenty of exits. But if something happens, there will be a stampede to the front door and you might get run over trying to make it out. Strive to be the person that is going to make it out of the side or back door with the employees.”

If the situation had been real, Dolak said International Market Place likely would have alerted customers. The center probably would have helped some customers exit quickly, while moving those who couldn’t get out into the “back of the house” employee area or into businesses that could lock their doors.

“This goes back to the false nuclear attack when we learned that some businesses were shutting their doors and not allowing people inside,” Dolak said. “People look at it as, ‘That’s my store and I have to protect my stuff,’ but we have to protect people first.”

Star-Advertiser reporters Mark Ladao and Dan Nakaso contributed to this story.