No shots fired, but 'active shooter' fear leads to pandemonium inside Evansville mall

EVANSVILLE − Multiple reports of an active shooter led to pandemonium inside an Evansville mall Saturday evening, but officers said they found no evidence shots had been fired.

The chaotic situation unfolded inside Eastland Mall on Green River Road at 6:53 p.m., after 9-1-1 callers reported a large fight had taken place and that some of the combatants were armed.

Hours later, police said no one appeared to have suffered any injuries.

According to Evansville Police Department spokeswoman Sgt. Taylor Merriss, officers treated the situation as a potential active shooter incident after suspects issued threats of violence.

"People have guns, and somebody had made a statement about blowing the place up," Merriss told the Courier & Press. "So, at that point, it was rendered as an active shooter, because they believed people were actually firing shots inside the mall."

With multiple high-profile mass shootings dominating headlines in recent weeks, word of a potential active shooter at Eastland Mall spread quickly on local social media sites such as EvansvilleWatch.

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Police detained four juvenile males who matched the description of the suspects, Merriss wrote in a news release Sunday morning. A fifth person was transported to EPD headquarters for questioning.

Two juvenile males were formally arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and dangerous possession of a firearm, a Level 5 felony, according to Merriss. Police did not publicly identify them.

"Once the investigation is complete, future arrests may occur," Merriss wrote.

During their initial investigation, detectives reportedly recovered a handgun magazine inside Eastland Mall and found a pistol underneath a vehicle in the mall's parking lot.

By 8:15 p.m. Saturday, Merriss said law enforcement had cleared at least 90 percent of the structure and failed to locate a single spent shell casing — the presence of which would indicate a firearm had been discharged.

Customers and employees scrambled to cover

Eyewitnesses described a tumultuous scene inside Eastland Mall as patrons became aware of the fight and the potential for gunfire. Several witnesses told the Courier & Press the incident appeared to have occurred near the Dillard's department store.

One of those witnesses, Ameilia Hollins, was shopping for her high school graduation dress with her family Saturday evening when she saw "a bunch of people just start running."

"We saw cops draw their guns and start running out the doors as well, and then there was just a bunch of yelling," Hollins, a Hopkins County High School senior, said. "I had to run into a bathroom."

Fourteen people took shelter in the small restroom, according to Amelia and her father, Cory Collins. At one point, the group had to offer care to an employee overcome with panic.

"Out in the mall, it was total chaos," Cory Collins said. "Everybody running everywhere (and) running out of the mall."

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Two off-duty deputies who were working at Eastland Mall Saturday evening said they did not hear any gunshots, according to Merriss. The deputies coordinated the initial response with mall security.

EPD officers equipped with semi-automatic rifles arrived at Eastland Mall shortly thereafter and began to perform a sweep of the building. Merriss said additional Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office deputies provided support.

"Currently, no bullet casings were located inside the mall to indicate that a shooting occurred, and there are no victims that we are aware of," Merriss said. "Officers are currently still clearing the stores to make sure that there are no victims and to make sure that people are able to leave safely."

By 7:45 p.m., groups of customers and employees could be seen calmly exiting the mall. Detectives and officers conducted interviews with eyewitnesses in a parking lot near the mall's JCPenney store.

'It was like a scene out of a movie'

Amelia Collins, who is set to graduate from Hopkins County Central High School on May 23, said she was grateful - and relieved - that her family arrived at Eastland Mall to do their dress shopping at just the right time.

"If we got to the mall any later than we did, we were going to be in the middle of it, because our first stop was Dillard's," she said.

And while it appears that no shots were fired, Cory Collins said he won't soon forget the chaos and fear elicited by a potential active-shooter scenario.

"Something like this happening? It'll definitely be in the back of our minds, for sure," he said. "It was like a scene out of a movie. You see people scattering everywhere; running toward the nearest door."

By 9:50 p.m., Eastland Mall was mostly quiet — barring the whir of a street sweeper making its rounds and occasional car traffic.

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But, the investigation into what happened there hours earlier is still ongoing. Merriss said detectives hope to speak with additional witnesses who may have fled the scene without ever having contacted law enforcement.

"We've had tons of people that were witnesses that have left out of fear, as I would imagine given it being a scary situation," Merriss said. "But we need those witnesses to tell us what happened."

Authorities are urging anyone who witnessed the incident to contact the EPD at 812-436-7979.

In addition to eyewitness testimony, detectives are hoping to comb through the mall's security camera footage to determine how and why an apparent fight escalated into a potential active shooter situation.

Merriss said body camera footage depicting the EPD's response to the incident could be made publicly available as soon as Monday.

Houston can be contacted at houston.harwood@courierpress.com

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Evansville Police: 'Active shooter' call at Eastland Mall unfounded