'No shots fired at Florida Mall': Orange County Sheriff's Office says presumed gunshots likely fireworks

Support local journalism. Unlock unlimited digital access to floridatoday.com Click here and subscribe today.

An incident initially believed to be a shooting broke out at the Florida Mall in Orlando on Saturday afternoon, but the Orange County Sheriff's Office later said the presumed shots heard were likely fireworks.

"NO shots fired at Florida Mall," the sheriff's office said in a statement via Twitter at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. "Loud noise is suspected fireworks. Please help tamp down those false rumors."

The statement came about 20 minutes after multiple Twitter users took to the social media platform saying they had heard gunshots and had either fled the mall or were hiding in storage rooms.

Florida man's school shooting database: What a Florida man's school shooting database can tell us about gun violence on campuses

After Uvalde: Active shooter drills popular in Brevard Public Schools, but do they work?

Twitter users said the noises were heard near the food court, though the sheriff's office did not specify where the suspected fireworks went off.

The Florida Mall has not posted any updates to its social media accounts. One employee working in the middle area of the mall, who declined to give his name, said he heard no fireworks and called it a “nothing incident.”

Finch Walker is a Breaking News Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at 321-290-4744 or fwalker@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @_finchwalker

Support local journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Florida Mall shooting: Fireworks, not gunfire, OCSO says