'Sick' Mall Prank May Have Been Device Mimicking Gunfire: Cops
CHICAGO RIDGE, IL — Police are combing through surveillance video looking for clues after what sounded like a gunshot cleared Chicago Ridge Mall before of shoppers about thirty minutes before the mall’s closing the night before.
Around 7:20 p.m. Sunday, Chicago Ridge police responded to a report of multiple shots fired at the mall. No evidence of gunfire was found after officers searched the mall.
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Witnesses reported hearing a loud boom and then a group of individuals, possibly juveniles, running toward the exits. Shoppers were asked to clear the mall before it was set to close at 8 p.m., which they did without incident.
Police said there was no indication to believe gunfire was involved, nor was there a threat to public safety. The incident is believed to have started in front of H&M in the mall’s center court when the loud boom was heard.
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“Witnesses said it came from the north and others said south,” said Chief Jim Jaromilek, of the Chicago Ridge Police Department.
Jarolimek told Patch that nothing was seen in anyone’s hand indicating a firework or any typed of explosion in mall security footage.
“No one actually saw anything, so that’s why we are thinking a speaker or some type of device to mimic a gunshot,” Jarolimek told Patch. “It probably echoed, [there is] very little information on the source, so we are thinking a subject using a speaker or phone caused this.”
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