Florida Mayor Says 'Possible Shooting' Report at Mall 'May Just be a Hoax'

Police responded to a chaotic scene at Dolphin Mall in Sweetwater, Florida in Miami-Dade County [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

Police responded to a chaotic scene at Dolphin Mall in Sweetwater, Florida in Miami-Dade County Saturday night. There are conflicting reports of possible gunfire, but the city's mayor said it might have been a "hoax." Some witness reports say it was caused by a fight.

Sweetwater police told the Miami Herald that no one has been treated for gunshot wounds. A source also told NBC News affiliate, NBC 6, that the chaos started after a fight between two men.

"We still don't know what area of the mall it happened in," Sweetwater Mayor Orlando Lopez told the Miami Herald at 9:45 p.m. "Multiple subjects are in custody and somewhere along the way there was reports of shots fired. We have not been able to confirm that at all. There are no bullet casings, bullet holes, nothing. This may just be a hoax like it was last time."

Officers also told the Herald the "shots fired" reports might have been untrue and "all there was was a fight."

"Police are on the scene and the mall is on lockdown. We do not know if any shots were fired and if the reports are true," a Doral dispatcher told the Miami Herald.

Police locked down the mall, telling people to leave the scene. The lockdown order was lifted a short time later.

A witness shared a photo from the scene, showing an escalator's railing glass shattered.

Another witness reported hearing that there was a fight. The noise that sounded like a gunshot was the glass breaking. It took four minutes for security and police officers to arrive, but the fight was broken up by then.

One witness who was in the movie theater tweeted that people were "running for their lives."

"Everyone in theater thought it was another movie after vibrations were heard and felt but then employee ran in & told everyone to run! Something was happening downstairs! Police are everywhere! Everyone ran [through] exits," the witness wrote.

NBC 6 reports that one person was injured and another was arrested.

In August 2017, the Dolphin Mall was the scene of another lockdown because of possible shots fired. However, it was later determined that there was no gunfire.

Below are other images from the scene.

Photo credit: Twitter/ @arleen078

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