Monroeville Mall Brawl - At least two people sustained injuries and one had to transported via ambulance to the hospital following a series of brawls involving a thousand-teen flash mob inside the Monroeville Mall on Friday.
According to reports, shoppers were looking for the best Christmas eve prices when a fight broke at the first floor involving two teenage girls at around 5.p.m.
The fight was quelled by mall security, however it quickly spread through out the 1.3 million square- foot shopping center after other young women joined in.
"It just escalated," Keith Simmons, manager of Show Dept. Encore said. "You could see it coming around 5 p.m.
"All of a sudden there was all this commotion. And there were..you just heard like a stampede and a bunch of people screaming and yelling and then all of the people that worked at the store came running to the front of the store and shut all the doors and locked you in until the police came," a witness told CBS.
Reports indicate that the management of the Monroeville mall called the police reporting the violent brawl at around 8:30 p.m. Officials responded and upon arrival and decided to shut the mall down given the extent of ensuing chaos.
According to Monroeville police chief K. Douglas Cole, getting the teenagers in order and closing the mall was no ordinary feat and included the assistance of several police officials.
"How many entrances do you think there are to the mall? It took 40 minutes to clear the facility. I think the mall did a great call when they made the call. I don't think it was too early or too late," Cole said.
It's not clear what may have triggered the Monroeville mall brawl which involved at least 1,000 teenagers. However authorities believe a minor event may have triggered the brawl, an investigation is underway.
"These things sometimes have the most simple, stupid starts to them," said Eon Harvey, a Monroeville councilman and fire chief. "Weird situations between young people can tip this stuff off."
At least two juvenile males suffered non life threatening injuries which saw one being transported to the AHN Forbers Hospital via ambulance. Multiple citations were issued for disorderly conduct.
A couple of amateur videos which were posted online by witnesses, show mainly African American teenage girls fighting in the Monroeville mall brawl.
"The mall is doing so well, it's reinventing itself. This gives Monroeville a black eye. There was no reason for any of that activity last night," Monroeville Mayor Greg Erosenko said.
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