AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Great Lakes Crossing Outlets, a shopping mall in Auburn Hills, was evacuated Saturday after reports of an active shooter.
The Auburn Hills Police Department posted an update on Twitter just after 7 p.m. stating that there has been no confirmed shooter.
Additionally, police say no one was hurt.
There was a report of an active shooter at Great Lakes Crossing Mall. There has been no confirmed shooter, there is no one injured at this time. Police personnel are on scene clearing the mall at this time.
— Auburn Hills Police Department (@AHPOLICE) April 8, 2023
Auburn Hills police officers were in the food court taking an unrelated theft report when they say a group of kids started fighting.
While officers were trying to break up the fight, one officer used a taser.
Someone then yelled "shots fired" causing people inside the food court to start running away— both through the mall and outside.
"I look over by Subway...You hear, like, girls screaming and things like that, so we look over. It's two girls fighting and it starts to be a big crowd and everybody's like piled up and then you see two boys and stuff. Then you see an officer run through, trying to break it apart but ends up getting beat up in the process, too," Enddiea Reese-Ercer, who was working at the mall at the time of the incident, recalled to our sister station, WXYZ. "And then two seconds later you hear, like, somebody run past and go, 'he has a gun,' and then you hear two or four more people saying it."
The mall sent out an active shooter warning message to customers and employees— saying to either evacuate or shelter in place.
Investigators searched the mall and didn't find anything. The police department sent out an update around 9 p.m. Saturday saying that investigators confirmed there were no shots fired and there are no victims.
Deputy Chief Scott McGraw with the Auburn Hills Police Department talked with WXYZ and expressed his frustration about how quickly false information spread online.
"Social media became inundated with claims of shots fired and it's almost trending online. In situations like this, it is frustrating to see that spread of misinformation. It's hard to get that message out when everybody is flooding it with misinformation, for sure," he said.
Deputy Chief McGraw added that it is in fact a crime to falsely yell "shots fired" in a crowd.
Police say two people were put in handcuffs during the initial fight in the food court; however, they both took off and have not been found yet.
If you who they are and where they could be, call the Auburn Hills Police Department at 248-364-6862.
The department says the public is not in danger.
