In the rush to complete holiday shopping on Christmas Eve, many shoppers at Roosevelt Field Mall on Long Island weren’t running from store to store, but rather out the door when a display case was knocked over and mistaken for the sound of gunshots.
The incident occurred at 1:10 p.m. on Christmas Eve when alleged shoplifter Aaron Darby, of West Hempstead, was being taken into custody at Macy’s and knocked over a display case when resisting arrest.
The sound of the display case crashing immediately caused concern and panic that gunshots were fired. The mall went into lockdown for about 15 minutes as a precaution. A police investigation determined there were no gunshots.
The incident caused minor injury to several shoppers.
Fear quickly came over shoppers considering back in September two people were shot in a building near Roosevelt Field Mall.
[Source: Nassau County Police Department]
Photo Courtesy of Youngking11, via Wikimedia Commons.