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Witnesses to lockdown at Chicago area mall describe chaos, confusion
After police activity at Old Orchard Mall in north suburban Skokie on Tuesday afternoon, officials gave an "all clear" and normal operations resumed.
SKOKIE, Ill. - Two people who were detained after a verbal dispute led to a lockdown at Westfield Old Orchard Mall in north suburban Skokie on Tuesday will not face criminal charges, authorities said.
Skokie police confirmed on Wednesday that both people were released from police custody and the investigation is now closed.
What we know:
Around 2:30 p.m., Old Orchard and surrounding businesses were placed on lockdown and employees and customers were told to shelter in place.
Police said they learned of a report of a person with a gun at the mall. They later learned a dispute between two people was the cause of the incident.
Witnesses told of what they saw, including one of our Fox 32 colleagues.
"As I walked in browsing around, all of the sudden, over the P.A. system, the manager comes on and says ‘Please, everyone, do not panic, but we would like to have you all now head to the back room storage area. We do believe that there is a situation that the Skokie police are advising us to keep our customers safe,’" said Katie Carrillo-Majewski, a Fox 32 employee.
Sasha Zitser and Lolla Tokmovtsev said they were in Starbucks when they learned about the incident and ran into the bathroom to hide with other patrons. Minutes later, Starbucks employees brought them to the back storage area, which they said was more secure.
"They said the safer area was to go into the Starbucks backroom, so they took us all with them into there," Tokmovtsev said. "There was so much misinformation going on, we weren't sure what was going on."
"It was like a roller coaster of emotions," Zitser added.
Sources told Fox 32 that a verbal altercation led to someone yelling "gun," which prompted the police response.
Police said there were never any shots fired at the mall. No injuries were reported.
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Two people taken into custody after police respond to north suburban mall
An incident at Westfield Old Orchard Mall in north suburban Skokie prompted a police response and lockdown on Tuesday afternoon
Officer located the two individuals involved in the dispute and detained them. Sky Fox was over the scene and spotted the police activity and officers placing two individuals into squad cars.
What's next:
It was unclear exactly what prompted the argument.
Further details haven't been released.