MONROEVILLE, Pa. — The Monroeville Police Chief says a large police presence at the Monroeville Mall stemmed from a 911 call about a dispute between two people that quickly escalated to fears of an active shooter.
PHOTOS: Police respond to incident at Monroeville Mall
Police responded to the mall just before 3 p.m. Sunday. The mall was put into lockdown, but that lockdown was lifted around 4 p.m.
Chief Doug Cole says the initial 911 call was about a dispute between two people and one person possibly having a gun. While police were en route, they started getting reports of shots fired. Cole says there is no evidence of gunfire at the mall.
The people involved in the alleged fight, which Cole said happened outside of a bathroom, were not found when police arrived.
“Our information was very sketchy,” Cole said. “It continued to evolve, and we could never find anyone that was ever shot or even any physical evidence that a gunshot had even gone off. It appears at this time this was totally a mistake.”
Though the police chief said the matter was a false alarm, it was still enough to cause a lot of confusion and panic.
Cell phone video showed the chaotic moments as officers with their guns out raced through the mall’s food court shouting, “Everyone down,” as they looked for who they thought was an active shooter.
“I think they said, ‘Guy with a gun, and lock everything down,’ and that’s when they locked everything down,” said shopper Julie Rodriguez.
As the mall went into lockdown, shoppers and employees ran for their lives.
“I saw a whole bunch of people running from the food court into Journeys and I just got out the kiosk and ran with them,” said Fatma Mchujuko, who works at Perfume Collection.
With just three days before Christmas, the mall was packed with people, including the Rodriguez family.
“We were just really scared,” Rodriguez said. “It was just chaotic, just craziness.”
Many shoppers evacuated others hid in stores.
The Rodriguez family said employees inside Victoria’s Secret quickly told them to hide in a storage room where they stayed for about an hour.
“We weren’t calm,” said Rodriguez. “I wasn’t calm. My daughter was crying her eyes out.
Her daughter, Abigail Rodriguez, 17, was terrified.
“I just saw people running and I kind of knew there was a shooting or something going on, and I thought to myself, am I going to die?” Abigail Rodriguez said holding back tears.
Police chief Cole said the 911 caller thought one of the two people fighting had a gun but later said it could have been a cell phone in his hand.
Then Cole said things escalated quickly and dozens of people called saying they heard gunshots.
“Obviously, our police officers came here as an active shooter event,” he said.
The chief said once officers started clearing the main areas, they found nothing. By 4 p.m. officers gave the all clear. The lockdown was lifted.
“I was scared that somebody got hurt, personally, not us, but just anybody during the holiday season,” Julie Rodriguez said. “It’s just very sad.”
One person had an anxiety attack because of the false alarm but no one was hurt.
The police chief said the people involved in the alleged fight outside of a bathroom were not found when officers arrived. Additionally, he said anybody who thought they heard gunshots could have heard something else or could have been in a state of hysteria.
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