Hanes Mall Closes After 'Large Fight' Involving 80-100 Teenagers, 3 Arrested

Hanes Mall in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, witnessed a large fight on Saturday that involved 80-100 unruly teenagers. The Incident subsequently led to the closure of the mall, according to Salem police.

The fight that drew about 40 police officers to the mall, broke out shortly after 6 p.m. EST and caused an evacuation in the mall, including the nearby McDonald’s and the mall parking lot.

Lt. D.L. Rose with Winston-Salem police told Fox 8, the fight escalated when mall security was trying to escort the teenagers out and others tried to get in the middle of security officers doing their job.

When the police tried to arrest one teenager for disorderly conduct, others tried to interfere with the arrest, which consequently led to two more arrests, police said.

The names of the arrested individuals were not released by the police.

Lt. Rose said: “There was a mix of 80 to 100 juveniles and teens. Some of them started interfering with the arrest, then some of them followed the officers outside and continued to interfere and there were two subsequent arrests.”

Police were called to the mall shortly after 6:30 p.m. and the mall closed at 7 p.m., after police escorted the shoppers outside the mall.

“Due to a large fight involving teenagers at Hanes Mall, the mall is now closed,” Winston-Salem Police tweeted on Saturday night. “If you have children at Hanes Mall that need to be picked up, respond to the McDonalds from the Silas Creek Parkway side.”

Jessica Branch, a teenager who was present at the mall, said she heard people screaming and yelling at each other which panicked the shoppers around her, local publication Winston-Salem Journal reported.

“There were people screaming. It was just a huge chaotic mess with people trying to find their loved ones,” Branch said. “People were screaming at police officers, we were right there. I literally could not believe what was going on.”

“At first we heard it was a shooting, then we heard it was a fight. Nobody seemed to know what was going on and everyone was scared, It turned into a huge mess, especially with the Florida shooting in the back of everyone’s minds,” Branch, an eighth-grader at Summit School, added.

Rose didn't believe there were firearms present on the premises.

“We’ve swept the mall twice and haven’t found any firearms,” Rose said. “So far we’ve made three arrests. We’re still clearing the scene.”

Following the incident, the mall remained closed Saturday night. Police tweeted at 9 p.m. that “all issues regarding teenagers at Hanes Mall have concluded.”