A flurry of reports of mall melees and disturbances rippled across social media Monday on a day Americans swarmed shopping hubs for post-holiday bargains.
Disturbances that led to some malls being evacuated included reports from Elizabeth, N.J.; Fayetteville, N.C.; East Garden City, N.Y.;Aurora, Colo. ; Tempe, Ariz.; Beachwood Place , a suburb of Cleveland; and Memphis
MPD Deputy Chief Terry Landrum said outside Oak Court that the situation started at Wolfchase about 6:30 p.m.
"Somebody yelled 'gun!' and youths stampeded through the mall," Landrum said. "Pretty much the same thing happened here (at Oak Court).
"A kiosk was knocked over, there was some other damage, but there were no shots fired. We had officers in both malls."
Landrum said six were arrested at Wolfchase and another person was in custody. One person was arrested at Oak Court after she bumped an officer with a car. Identities of those arrested were not available, and Landrum didn't know if they were all juveniles.
Asked if the incidents were connected, possibly with other incidents across the nation, Landrum wasn't sure, but said there was a lot of talk on social media. He said he heard rumors of incidents at other locations in Memphis Monday evening but wasn't aware of any other confirmed activity.
Disturbances that led to some malls being evacuated included reports from Elizabeth, N.J.; Fayetteville, N.C.; East Garden City, N.Y.;
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About 10 people were injured during a melee at the Jersey Gardens mall in Elizabeth on Sunday evening, Mayor Chris Bollwage said in a tweet.
The injuries were non-life-threatening, Bollwage said. A fight in the food court led to false reports of a shooting after a chair was thrown and hit the ground loudly, officials said.
Posts on social media showed police with machine guns responding to the food court. Police evacuated the building as a precaution, and hours later there were still long lines waiting for NJ Transit buses as it began to rain.
Sergio Cleto, a tourist from Brazil, was waiting for a bus back to Manhattan. "We saw the kids fighting ... then everyone began to run and everything is a mess after that," Cleto said.
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In Tennessee, Memphis police arrested seven people and had an eighth in custody Monday evening following melees at two malls that sent crowds scurrying and shut down Oak Court Mall early.
The two incidents were similar to others across the country, but Memphis police couldn't confirm any sort of coordinated effort just a lot of social media chatter.
No one was injured in the local disturbances at Oak Court and Wolfchase Galleria and, despite reports to the contrary, no gunshots were fired. The disturbances did, however, cause Oak Court operators to shut down the East Memphis mall hours early Monday evening and, according to some reports on social media, left Wolfchase patrons detained inside stores for a time.
MPD Deputy Chief Terry Landrum said outside Oak Court that the situation started at Wolfchase about 6:30 p.m.
"Somebody yelled 'gun!' and youths stampeded through the mall," Landrum said. "Pretty much the same thing happened here (at Oak Court).
"A kiosk was knocked over, there was some other damage, but there were no shots fired. We had officers in both malls."
Landrum said six were arrested at Wolfchase and another person was in custody. One person was arrested at Oak Court after she bumped an officer with a car. Identities of those arrested were not available, and Landrum didn't know if they were all juveniles.
Asked if the incidents were connected, possibly with other incidents across the nation, Landrum wasn't sure, but said there was a lot of talk on social media. He said he heard rumors of incidents at other locations in Memphis Monday evening but wasn't aware of any other confirmed activity.
In North Carolina, Cross Creek Mall in Fayetteville was evacuated after a brawl sent shoppers fleeing, WRAL-TV in Raleigh reported. Authorities said a confrontation broke out between teens in the mall food court at about 4:40 p.m. and quickly escalated, the station said. Fayetteville Police tweeted that there were unconfirmed reports of shots being fired, and the mall, not police, made the decision to evacuate. There were no shooting victims or property damage, according to police.
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