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Town Center Aurora closed and evacuated after 'large disturbance,' police say

Posted at 5:30 PM, Dec 26, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-27 09:04:34-05

 

 

AURORA, Colo. -- Aurora Police said officers evacuated, then closed the Town Center Aurora Monday evening because of multiple skirmishes and a large disturbance inside the mall.

Aurora Police said a post on social media told people there was going to be a fight at the Aurora mall.

"There was something that was going around on social media about a fight that was going to take place here, at the Town Center of Aurora, which is what drew all of these people, who were up to no good, to our mall," said Aurora Police Sgt. Chris Amsler. "When one of our officers was attempting to make an arrest of two people that were fighting, the crowd began to circle our officers, so our officers had to call for help."

Police said a fight started in the food court and soon there were 500 people involved.

Five juveniles were arrested, police said.

Two were hurt, one seriously when the fighting continued off the mall property.

"We had some additional skirmishes at Century 16 (Theater) and also at the RTD Park n Ride," said Amsler.

Police did not release any details about the victims or their injuries.

 

Videos from the scene, recorded by witnesses, showed police holding people on the ground and multiple people yelling.

"There was at least three or four police officers on each person, which was so unnecessary because they weren't running, they weren't resisting," said Bella Williams, who posted video of the aftermath on Snapchat.

"I was there working, it was crazy, the police did an amazing job," Cody Turner wrote on Facebook.

"I was there and the police officers were not using excessive force," said Claudia Simental on Facebook.

Simental said the kids refused to cooperate with the police officers and were a threat to other customers.

A security worker told Denver7 there were too many people in the mall and fights broke out.

A Denver7 viewer agreed.

"It was way overpacked," Marissa Ornelas wrote on Facebook.

Denver Police and the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office assisted Aurora officers in evacuating and closing the mall, police said.

The Town Center Aurora mall is on East Alameda Ave., just off Interstate 225.

Mall officials said the mall is expected to reopen at 10 a.m. on Tuesday.

There were also disturbances at other malls across the country on Monday including a mall in Indianapolis anda mall in Aurora, Illinois.

Aurora [Colorado] Police said they do "not believe there is any connection" between the Aurora Colorado and Aurora Illinois incidents.

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