Newport News, Va. - Newport News Police were called to Patrick Henry Mall Saturday evening after several fights broke out among teens.
Police say they were called to a large fight around 5:15 p.m.
When officers arrived, they were met with several fights involving what appeared to be teenagers. Police estimate the crowd was about 200 people.
The fights were broken up and the teens were escorted off of the property.
"I was like, OK, I hope I don't get hit, I have a baby," says Jasmine Washington, a witness of the chaos. "They ran from one side to the other side, then all the way to the food court, and by JCPenney's, it was just crazy."
According to police, a 17-year-old girl was injured but refused medical treatment.
Police say there was no evidence of shots being fired, no reports of shooting victims, and the mall was not closed or evacuated. However, police could not confirm whether or not individual stores were shut down.
Washington says she was shopping inside the Pandora store, and they closed their doors for about 20 minutes.
"I wasn't even worried about me, I was worried about my son and everybody else's kids, people who had babies," she says. "I was like, OK, everybody, lets take our babies to the back."
There were no arrests made.
Newport News Police Public Information Officer Lou Thurston says police did assist the mall in taking unaccompanied minors off of the property, but it was a mall decision.
Thurston says they continue to have an increased security presence at the mall.
The following statement is from the Patrick Henry Mall:
The safety and security of our shoppers and employees at Patrick Henry Mall has always been and will continue to be our top priority. We will not tolerate any incident which disrupts our customers' experience, and we are committed to working closely with the Newport News Police Department in its ongoing investigation of Saturday's incident. We again want to take a moment to thank the NNPD as well as our own personnel for their quick response.
