Mall of America Monday night.
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- Fists flew and so did a few chairs during a large-scale brawl at the Mall of America Monday.
"Anytime you have a large group of people together things can happen," said Commander Mark Stehlik with Bloomington Police. "But this is highly unusual."
Shortly after 4 p.m., authorities confirm more than 20 individuals started fighting in the north food court. Cellphone video uploaded to YouTube shows dozens of young people watching while some push, punch, and even throw chairs. At that same time, police say several other fights flared up in other places of the mall.
"There were drinks thrown on the floor and chairs being thrown everywhere," said Tess Dessalgne who witnessed the brawl. "Everyone started running towards the fight."
There are no reports of anyone seriously hurt, but Bloomington Police along with Mall of America security arrested nine individuals for disorderly conduct. Some of those arrested were juveniles.
"At one point we had over 30 officers involved," said Commander Stehlik. "What we tried to do was push people out of the mall in an effort to get this disturbance under control."
No official lockdown of the mall occurred, but some stores did close their doors until order was restored.
A statement from the Mall of America call this incident "unfortunate especially during the holidays." The statement went on to say, "As with any incident we will review our security efforts and continue to work closely with Bloomington Police to see if any changes are required."
(Copyright 2011 KARE. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
You Might Be Interested In