Little Rock police removed dozens of teenagers from Park Plaza Mall on Monday night because they were “causing fear," a spokesman said.
Lt. Steve McClanahan said police earlier Monday received information that something could happen at the mall between 3 and 5 p.m., so officers were on scene when the youths began to cause trouble.
During the course of the evening, police kicked out 75 to 100 kids between the ages of 12 and 17, McClanahan said. There were no arrests.
“They were going on different levels, acting like they were going to start fights,” he said, adding that any fights that did occur were minor.
The Monday unrest was not limited to Little Rock. With multitudes of shoppers returning holiday gifts or looking for discounts, malls around the country dealt with fights. The Associated Press reported brawls at malls in New York, Virginia, Connecticut and North Carolina that sent shoppers running and led to multiple arrests.
McClanahan said it was “very likely” the disturbance at Park Plaza was somehow related to the other mall fights that happened Monday.
McClanahan said a pair of vehicles were vandalized during the commotion. According to a report, police responded to a Toyota Corolla that had its right rear window broken a little before 9 p.m.
Via its Twitter account Monday night, Little Rock police said the unoccupied car had been shot, but McClanahan on Tuesday said the window could've been broken by a BB gun, pellet gun or another object.
A little before 8 p.m., the Police Department also dispelled social-media rumors about an active shooter at the mall, saying no shots were fired.
McClanahan said he didn't know how those rumors started.
“It wasn’t factual," he said. "It was false.”
