A shopping mall in Southern California was forced to shut down early on Saturday after brawling teenagers flooded the place.
The Daily Mail reported that the huge fight occurred at The Pike Outlets mall in Long Beach. According to the outlet, at least 200 individuals assembled at the mall after a social media that went viral strongly suggested a fight would occur between two females, one legal adult and one minor.
Video captured at the scene shows one of the girls approaching the other, and the fight starts. The two individuals exchange punches and pull each other’s hair while the crowd eggs them on and films the fight.
Some of the bystanders then join the brawl before Long Beach police arrive to put an end to the chaos.
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Cops arrested the two original perpetrators at the scene. Their identities have not been disclosed.
The Mail notes the police were able to arrive on the scene in short order after being tipped off in advance and The Pike Outlets closed the shops early at 6 pm. due to the brawl.
Long Beach Police Chief Wally Hebeish released the following statement in response to the commotion. He noted the situation was alarming enough that they had to issue a Stage 2 Tactical Alert:
We had hundreds of juveniles come to The Pike as part of a viral social media meet-up. Our officers were prepared and extremely visible throughout the downtown area.
In addition to spreading available resources throughout various other parts of the city, we found it necessary to declare a Stage 2 Tactical Alert, meaning we held over our day shift officers and deployed our afternoon shift officers quickly to ensure we were able to support the group activity in downtown, as well as respond to calls for service citywide.
I am incredibly proud of the efforts of our officers last night, and I want to reiterate that the Long Beach Police Department will not tolerate criminal acts or violence in our community.
After the altercation, media reports emerged of a nearby shooting involving a juvenile male. The youth was discovered at The Promenade with a gunshot wound to his lower body.
It is unclear at this time whether the two incidents are related.