A Skateboard Led to a Mass Shooting Panic

No one was injured in Dallas incident
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 1, 2021 3:01 AM CDT
Man Bangs Skateboard on Ground, Causes Mass Shooting Panic
People wait outside the NorthPark Center in Dallas on Monday, May 31, 2021. Panicked shoppers rushed out of the mall after a man banged a skateboard on the ground in the food court and made hand gestures as if he was shooting, police said.   (Lola Gomez/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

Panicked shoppers rushed out of a Dallas mall on Memorial Day after a man banged a skateboard on the ground in the food court and made hand gestures as if he were shooting, police said. “That sound obviously caused a panic," Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia said. "When the crowd started running the individual focused on that and then began doing hand gestures as if he was shooting into the the crowd, which then further escalated the situation.” Garcia said police got a call at 1:27pm Monday reporting an active shooter at NorthPark Center, the AP reports. He said that within three minutes, off-duty officers at the mall had confronted the man. On-duty officers responded a minute later.

“When officers were arriving, obviously there was chaos throughout the building,” Garcia said. Police said that the man was taken into custody and transported to an area hospital for a medical evaluation. Garcia said the man did not have a gun. Video taken inside the mall showed shoppers rushing for exits while an alarm blared. Garcia said the incident could have resulted in people being trampled, but he didn't blame those who reported what they heard as a shooting because “there’s a lot of trauma” in the country.

(More Dallas stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X