BEACHWOOD, Ohio (AP) — (CLARKSVILLENOW) Fights have broken out at malls around the country, sending post-holiday shoppers scrambling for the exits. No one was seriously injured in the mall melees Monday night, which during the panic, also prompted numerous false reports of gunfire.
Police in Ohio say that officers used pepper spray to disperse a large crowd following a fight at an upscale shopping mall in Beachwood, just outside of Cleveland. Police say the incident there appears to have been “loosely organized on social media.”
In Memphis, Tennessee, police arrested several people following fights at two malls with one of them having to shut down. There were similar disturbances at malls around the country including in New York, Texas and Colorado.
There’s no official word on whether any of the fights are connected.
Authorities and witnesses say there have been disturbances at two malls in Memphis and one of them had to be shut down.
Witnesses at the East Memphis mall say people were told to leave after a dispute between a girl and a boy quickly escalated and involved others. At Wolfchase Galleria, police say a large group of people started a disturbance in the food court area Monday night.
Memphis Police Department spokesman Louis Brownlee told The Commercial Appeal that some of the patrons at Wolfchase reported shots being fired, but he says officers had no evidence of that. Similar reports were made at other malls.
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