Are Malls Safe? Fights, Violence Reported At Shopping Centers Across US After Holiday

More than 15 malls across the U.S. witnessed violence amid American shoppers clamoring to retailers for their post-Christmas sales on Monday. The fighting reported at malls in more than a dozen states were predominately the results of altercations between unruly teenagers, according to the New York Times.

The Fox Valley Mall in Aurora, Illinois, was evacuated and completely closed for roughly an hour over fights erupting among an “unusually large crowd” of teenagers on Monday night, the Chicago Tribune reported Monday. Some of the roughly 1,000 teens had reportedly thrown water bottles and Gatorade from the mall’s mezzanine level.

“It was a lot of kids and a couple of scuffles and just for everyone’s safety it was best to get everyone moving along before one large incident occurred,” Aurora Police Lt. Rick Robertson said. Of the four people taken by local police into custody Monday, he said at least two of them were juveniles.

In Elizabeth, New Jersey, chaos broke out among shoppers when a person yelled “gun” pertaining to a chair being slammed during a fight that had broken out. Between eight to 10 people were wounded with non-life threatening injuries, Mayor J. Christian Bollwage said.

A mall in Fayetteville, North Carolina was also shut down resulting from a fight among teenagers at the food court around 4:45 p.m., according to local reports Monday. Law enforcing said they received multiple 911 calls reporting gunshots, but police yet to reveal whether they occurred inside or outside the mall.

As a result, authorities at the Cross Creek Mall said it would be enforcing until Dec. 31 its youth escort policy, which mandates that anyone under the age of 18-years-old can only visit the mall if they are accompanied by someone older than 21.

Two separate malls in Memphis, Tennessee, also reported violence Monday. A fight among teens at Oak Court Mall caused the shopping center to temporarily close down. Nearby, local police arrested several people at the Wolfchase Galleria after pandemonium was caused when someone yelled “gun” during a fight some teens were having. Deputy Chief Terry Landrum said no one was injured during both incidents and no gunshots were fired.