The Monroeville Mall fight, which broke out in "multiple fights" late Friday occurred between several teenagers, leading to two being injured and the forced closure of the mall, police said. One of the injured teenagers as a result of the Monroeville Mall fight was even taken to a hospital.
Meanwhile, police are still investigating how the Monroeville Mall fight broke out inside the mall.
According to police, approximately 1,000 teens were involved in as many as six or more fights between the 5 p.m. and 8:30 p.m, reports WTAE.
Those involved in the Monroeville Mall fight were separate groups of "young adults," to which police responded to starting 5:30 p.m. ET, said Monroeville Police Chief Doug Cole.
"It was really insane," said eyewitness Cory Clemente, as told to NBC News. "I ended up locked in American Eagle."
Security officers at the mall told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and confirmed that teens caught up in the Monroeville Mall fight reached up to 1,000 teenagers after they showed up at the mall late Friday.
One of the fights that broke out involved at least a half dozen people, said Cole. He added that a "male juvenile" had been injured and taken to hospital, while another was injured as well later on.
"The fights de-escalated initially. They did notice the mall had an influx of many juveniles, probably as many as 1,000 is the estimate, that were congregating here at the mall on this nice Friday evening ..." said Cole of the Monroeville Mall fight. "That continued to cause more issues in the mall itself with groups moving through the mall. It appeared to be no type of a protest, just that there were many juveniles and I mean the age category of 19 or 20 years of age."
As one fight ended, one would think the Monroeville Mall fight would end. Unfortunately, another one began to heat up. A second batch of fights eventually had the Monroeville Police Department to requesting assistance from Allegheny County, Pitcairn, Trafford, Wilkins Township and Churchill police departments.
Port Authority was reportedly also notified to send extra buses for people to get home.
Indiana County resident Christine Smatlak was in the mall with her daughter when the Monroeville Mall fight broke out. Her daughter had been celebrating her 14th birthday.
According to Smatlak, one of the fights broke out just a few feet from where they were at the time.
"She was scared, as adults we were scared," said Smatlak of the Monroeville Mall fight. "You could just hear the yelling, screaming. You could see kids jumping, kicking someone else."
Meanwhile, on social media, word of the fights quickly spread.
Smatlak added that not only was she concerned, but employees inside the store also worried about the safety of the public, hence called for help later on.
"It was a very long time before, I don't even think I saw security, there was other kids helping the kid because he was bleeding," said Smatlak.
The initial investigation into the Monroeville Mall fight reportedly showed that social media played a huge role in pushing for kids to come to the mall as the fights escalated.
Two people from two different fights were later taken to Forbes Hospital injuries not specified.
At this time, no arrests have been made yet from the Monroeville Mall fight. Police said they are hoping to make the arrests as soon as they review surveillance videos and speak to witnesses.
A report on initial damage shows that a kiosk suffered minor damage after teens ran into it.
Due to the Monroeville Mall fight, the mall was forced to close early at 8:30 p.m. ET. Multiple citations were issued for disorderly conduct, in addition to a pair of arrests made earlier Friday over a domestic dispute, according to NBC News.
On Saturday, Cole said he doesn't know if the Monroeville Mall fight was connected in any way to the disturbance at the mall in his community and other fights reported Friday in at least three other malls elsewhere in the nation, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.
On Friday, some mall stores within Independence Center in Independence, Mo., also went on lockdown following fights of several hundred youths, The Kansas City Star reported.
In Sacramento, Calif., Arden Fair Mall also closed early after similar trouble was reported, according to CBS 13 Sacramento.
At the Wolfchase Galleria mall in Memphis, Tenn., fighting was also reported Friday night among young people. Saturday night, the food court of Opry Mills Mall also witnessed a fight, said local news outlets, including WMC-TV and WSMV-TV.
As for the Monroeville Mall fight, Cole has just expressed relief that "we didn't see or even hear of any types of weapons and certainly we are very happy that there were no serious injuries."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
