Tyler Mall ‘Active Shooter’ Reports: 100+ Police Units Respond – Sound Was Glass Breaking From Robbery, Firing Reported [Videos]


On Twitter, the updates about Tyler Mall in Riverside, California, are coming quickly and furiously, along with related searches such as “Tyler Mall Riverside” and “Riverside police department” and “Ontario Mills.” Initially, reports about a Tyler Mall shooting sent swarms of Riverside Police to the mall. Instead of a shooting at Tyler Mall, it was actually a robbery at the Galleria at Tyler that caused panic among patrons. However, a Twitter user quoted below claims there was “firing” in front of his own eyes. Cops from San Bernardino, Rialto, and other Inland agencies showed up to help Riverside police, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

Videos from Tyler Mall on Twitter show a variety of reactions to the reports.

According to the Riverside City Police Dispatch, reports of an active shooter inside Tyler Mall initially came in to police.

“BREAKING NEWS: Tyler Mall has been evacuated after initial reports of an ‘Active Shooter’ inside the mall. Now appears to be a ‘smash and grab’ robbery at Ben Bridge. Suspects are still outstanding. NO KNOWN INJURIES! Over 100+ units on scene from (15 minutes ago)”

The photos of the large amount of police that showed up at Tyler Mall after reports of an active shooter came in to authorities prove just how heightened the country is on alerts of terrorism. Instead of hearing shots fired, Tyler Mall patrons likely heard the sound of glass breaking during a jewelry store robbery, claim the most recent reports about the Tyler Mall situation.

The incident at Tyler Mall in Riverside not only caused a swarm of police cars to respond, but employees and customers were sheltering in place during the melee.

According to ABC 7, three suspects used sledge hammers during the robbery at a store at Tyler Mall in Riverside. Despite the seriousness of the robbery at Tyler Mall, it didn’t stop Twitter jokesters from comparing the situation to the famous mall cop that Kevin James portrays in the series of Paul Blart: Mall Cop movies.

“Where was Paul Blart when Tyler Mall needed him.”

After the robbery reports, Tyler Mall was evacuated and placed on a locked down status as authorities tried to figure out if the active shooter reports were true – or if the Tyler Mall situation was only a robbery.

“BREAKING: Sources tell me there is NO shooter at Tyler Mall in Riverside. What people heard was glass cases being broken in robbery.”

The police response to the Tyler Mall shooting reports was indeed massive, with overhead shots of the situation in Riverside with a view from the @NBCLA Chopper 4 showing a massive amount of police cars.

With the scary reports of a potential active shooter, crowds of folks gathered outside the Tyler Mall as they waited for their loved ones to exit the mall to know they are safe.

According to NBC LA, the search is on for the suspects in the Tyler Mall jewelry store robbery.

Employees said that instead of shots being fired at Tyler Mall, it was a “smash and grab” type of robbery. The thieves reportedly used heavy hammers at the Ben Bridge Jewelers store in Tyler Mall in order to steal goods. It’s the type of popular robbery that has been seen in plenty of news reports lately that show a crew of people using the shock factor of quickly smashing the glass cases and grabbing a lot of valuables and leaving before the police can arrive.

According to Kenny Alvarez ?@kenny_alvarez on Twitter, he witnessed the robbery at Tyler Mall, and warned others to stay away from the mall.

“EVERYONE PLEAASE RT. FOR EVERYONE’S SAFETY PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM TYLER MALL!!! THERE WAS A ROBBERY AND FIRING IN FRONT OF MY VERY OWN EYES.”

Plenty of tweets reflected the fact that people initially believed there was an active shooter at Tyler Mall when the sounds of glass breaking could be heard. With the most recent terrorist attacks that claimed the lives of 14 people at nearby San Bernardino via a tragic gun attack, it’s no wonder that folks at Tyler Mall would automatically assume they were hearing gun shots.

[Image via Shutterstock]

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