Auburn Hills police seek 2 juvenile girls after Great Lakes Crossing chaos
Auburn Hills police are searching for two juvenile females who were in handcuffs when a massive panic broke out at Great Lakes Crossing Outlets and had customers running for safety from what turned out to be a false threat.
At the mall on Saturday, a yet-to-be-identified person yelled "shots fired" near the food court and chaos ensued, the mall released active shooter warnings encouraging employees and patrons to evacuate or shelter in place. Emergency responders were inundated with 911 calls and social media posts alerted the public to an active shooter situation. Preliminary investigation findings of the scene Saturday night found that there were no shots fired and no injuries.
Before the massive panic, Auburn Hills police officers were at the mall in response to an unrelated theft report in the mall's food court when a group fight broke out, according to officials, prompting intervention by the officers and the deployment of a Taser to subdue an individual involved in the altercation. Two underage girls were handcuffed as a result of the fight.
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It was during this altercation that someone shouted "shots fired," and panic overtook the mall. Multiple law enforcement agencies responded to the scene to manage the crowd of alarmed shoppers. McGraw said it's next to impossible to estimate the number of patrons who were evacuated, especially considering it was a holiday weekend.
Police are scouring video footage to identify the person who yelled "shots fired," and caused the alarm. Auburn Hills Deputy Police Chief Scott McGraw said it's possible they heard a table or chair get knocked down and mistook that sound for a gunshot, it's also possible they were trying to create a diversion to get their friends out of trouble, which could result in criminal charges.
Officials do not believe the two females are responsible for shouting "shots fired," and are urging them to contact the Auburn Hills Police Department in an effort to "reduce any embarrassment that could take place during the investigation," police said in a statement Monday.
"I understand these girls, they're young, and they made a mistake, they got into a fight," McGraw said. "I don't think they had any intention and making this as big a deal as it is. I don't want to put their face on the news because that could really ruin somebody's life."
In the meantime, McGraw said the department plans to exhaust every effort to find the two female juveniles, including calling local schools and potential loved ones.
"We're gonna pull every thread that we can," he said.
Contact Miriam Marini: mmarini@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Police seek 2 juvenile girls after Great Lakes Crossing evacuation
