A massive fight closed the Mall of Louisiana on Saturday evening after several young people brawled in the mall’s food court area.
The fight broke out around six pm but the troublemakers quickly dispersed to several areas of the mall.
Several ambulances arrived at the scene, but there were no reported injuries. There were initial reports of shots fired, but they were apparently incorrect, according to WWL-TV .
The teens reportedly gathered at the mall after they sent text messages to each other about a possible flash mob that would take place near the food court. But something appeared to go wrong, as a fight broke out on the second floor food court.
NOLA notes that Colonel Lawrence McLeary stated the incident occurred because two girls began fighting before the flash mob was set to begin. No details were available on why the girls began fighting.
After breaking up the fight in the food court, police took the juveniles to an area near the BJ’s Brewhouse and Bravo restaurant to have their parents pick them up. In that area, more fights broke out, forcing police to arrest four of the teens.
The mall was shut down for the night, according to McLeary, to prevent the situation from escalating again. Meanwhile, about 50 teens remained in the waiting area as of 7:40 pm local time.
Police have been directing traffic back onto the interstate and the mall’s restaurants also closed, unless guests had previous reservations. The movie theater remained open.
Baton Rouge police and Louisiana state troopers responded to the scene to assist with traffic and crowd control.
