INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Mall Fights On December 26: About 19 Malls Report Fights, Violence, Disturbances Or False Shooting Reports Causing Panic

By Paula Mooney
Published on: 15:02 PST, Dec 26, 2016

There were a series of disturbances being reported at malls around the country, which some claim were organized on December 26. As reported by the Inquisitr, Beachwood Mall near Cleveland, Ohio, experienced a lockdown status after there was some sort of disturbance that caused cops to release pepper spray to disperse the crowd. A large group of people could be seen running out of the mall as a result.

As reported in the above tweet from Pittsburgh News, there was an incident with youths in Monroeville Mall that is currently under control, according to authorities. Just like in the instance of Beachwood Mall, conflicting reports appeared on social media about whether or not actual shots were fired or not. Whereas authorities in many of the mall incidents claim that there may not have been any shots fired — the below tweets speak of injuries due to fights at malls and stampedes after a false report of shooting at Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City, New York, for example.

“Police say 7 people were injured after a fight broke out in the food court at the Roosevelt Field Mall in ”

: “ Fight at Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City, NY, leads to panic after false reports of shooting; security says all clear.”

Arizona Mills Mall had a hoax incident, as reported by the following tweet, after false claims of shots were fired at the mall. Police in Tempe, Arizona, claimed the reports were false.

There was a disturbance at Destiny USA Mall in Syracuse, according to CNY Central, which involved a brawl — but did not involve shots that may have been reported on social media. However, the mall was closed early, as noted by a CNY Central photographer who went to the mall to try and document the melee.

According to WTNH, Buckland Hills mall had a disturbance in Connecticut when the Shoppes at Buckland Hills were closed early after a few fights erupted between teens. The large fight broke out, as seen in the above video from Facebook, which has garnered nearly 100,000 views as of this writing. The Manchester Police reported that several arrests were made as a result of that fight. There were no reports that guns were used in that fight, say authorities, although one officer was reportedly assaulted.

According to Heavy, Hamilton Place Mall in Chattanooga experienced a scare when there was an incident involving firecrackers that some shoppers mistook for gunfire and caused a panic and stampede among shoppers. At least one injury was reported from a pregnant woman who left in a hurry. Photos of the items people deserted when they left in a hurry can be seen on social media.

There were also reports of shots fired at Fashion Fair Mall in Fresno.

According to the Hunt County Scanner on Facebook, there were incidents at malls in the Dallas-Fort Worth area as well, as reported below.

“Two shopping malls in the DFW metroplex are experiencing a major police response. Hulen Mall in Ft. Worth was evacuated around 7:00pm this evening after a massive brawl broke out in the food court. Reports of gun shots and large groups of teenagers resulted in a tactical response from Ft Worth PD. Town East Mall, in Mesquite, is currently on lock down after reports of a large brawl involving teen agers broke out. Mesquite PD has at least fifteen units on scene. Throughout the afternoon, into the evening, malls in Colorado, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, North Carolina, Virginia, and New York have all reported large fights, requiring police response. Dallas-Forth Worth memo of forward knowledge of mall fights breaking out across the entire country.”

On Twitter, North Riverside mall claims of shootings are being tweeted about by average citizens, without official confirmations as of this writing. The mall fights searches on Twitter also included Fox Valley mall, as seen in the below video.

According to CBS, Aurora Mall was closed and evacuated after Denver Police and Aurora Police cleared the Town Center at the mall in the wake of several fights from youth. The mall disturbances, another search term being reported by Twitter, involve violence that some are wondering if it was coordinated using social media or some sort of coordinated mall chaos hashtag being used by teens.

Roosevelt Field Mall also experienced fights, as seen in the above report from Newsday.

The Jersey Gardens Mall was also evacuated after some event caused panic, reports CBS Local.

Westridge Mall in Topeka, Kansas, also experienced several fights.

According to KFVS, two Memphis malls had melee that caused them to close early as well.

As reported by WAVY, three fights occurred in Newport News, Virginia, at Patrick Henry Mall.

[Featured Image by Jefferson Mall/Facebook]

Share this article: Mall Fights On December 26: About 19 Malls Report Fights, Violence, Disturbances Or False Shooting Reports Causing Panic
More from Inquisitr