Police: YouTube star appearance at Southcenter Mall sparks stampede, fear of shooting
TUKWILA, Wash. – Police officers sweden Tukwila's Southcenter Mall Saturday night after a large group of teenagers and young adults began running for the exits, causing fear that a shooting or other dangerous event was underway.
No shots were fired and no one was injured.
Instead, Tukwila Police investigates whether a self-appointed teenager's YouTube star is responsible for inviting the mob of teenagers to start the chaos.
Detectives believe that YouTuber invited their successors to the social media mall. The subsequent rush of teenagers created a sense of panic.
"A large group fled the doors while causing alarm to passers-by and employees," wrote Tukwila Police on Facebook. "The group has spread."
Some stores closed their gates as they saw the large group of children driving, police said.
"A large group of people just started running towards us and screamed attempts to leave the mall, so we just ran with them and stood outside the restaurant waiting to find out what happened," Bryce West said. "There were a lot of people saying they had seen someone pull out a gun, but people reacted as if it were a pistol threat."
Did things worse, some parents were on the Tukwila Policy's Facebook page and claimed that some of the kids shouted it was a shooter. The Tukwila police responded to one post "yes children are causing panic. Therefore, we had the great police force to find out what happened."
The police say that YouTuber did not have permission for an event or request permission from the mall. If investigators decide the panic was caused on purpose, costs could be entered.
