SHOOTING WAS ACTUALLY FIREWORKS. One Person Injured In Mass Escape. But Cops Called “Heroes” By Shoppers Evacuated.
BY: ANDREW COLTON | Editor and Publisher
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2024 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — What is being described as a “stampede” Saturday at Boca Raton’s Town Center Mall could have been a lot worse if Boca Raton Police Officers hadn’t responded to the scene just moments after reports came in of a shooter on the loose. The shooter, as it turned out, was someone detonating fireworks. Even so, the “pops” which sounded like gunfire — and subsequent mass evacuation and lockdown — could have led to mass injury. Instead, it is being called “controlled chaos” by those in the mall. — all of whom are saying Boca Raton Police officers did a great job.
BocaNewsNow.com received a huge number of emails, texts, and message from readers who all said Boca Raton Police officers should be congratulated for a job well done. We are publishing some of the comments, below.
“The cops communicated very well with the mall since the mall folk are the ones responsible for letting every store know if it really is safe to leave,” said one person who was in the middle of the mass evacuation. “After the incident cleared half of the cops were immediately sent to find the suspects and the others remained to assist people with missing children or parents or just anyone they were with. The police, and every mall staff did their job very well and maintained control. Many customers felt safe enough to continue shopping and to even lounge at the food court a couple minutes after the situation was explained.”
“The police did a great job,” said another shopper who was in the middle of the chaos. “I was at the mall with my family leaving Macy’s when everyone started fleeing running through the parking in pure chaos. I had my (young) twin boys with who were a little shook up as we made it to our car safely. Hopefully they catch the idiot person who lit fireworks off inside!”
“Boca Raton Police kept everyone as calm as they could be, considering no one really knew what was going on,” said a woman identified as Kristin. “There was a huge police presence within moments. And once they figured out what had happened, they did a great job calming everyone down and letting them know it was okay.”
Michael, another shopper, said it was definitely chaotic for the first several minutes. “People heard the fireworks, assumed they were gunshots and fled. There was a bit of a stampede. When i asked what was wrong, i was told there was a shooter. Large numbers of people fled outside. The police seemed to the quiet situation quickly. Within 10-20 minutes, people started reentering mall. People were very frightened.”
One person said her sister was seriously injured, although BocaNewsNow.com has not been able to independently confirm the report. “My sister, her husband and I were all at Boca Town Center mall incident yesterday. When everyone was stampeding out my sister fell on her stomach and is still at the hospital. She’s 36 weeks pregnant and might have to have her baby sooner than expected due to this incident. We tried calling 911 for an ambulance but none of our calls went through and we had to drive there to the hospital ourselves.”
No arrests had been made as of late Sunday afternoon. The investigation continues. It is believed someone set off fireworks inside of the mall which led to the chaos late Saturday afternoon.
