USA: Panic due to shootings in the largest mall

Fires caused panic at the Mall of America, the largest mall of USAlocated at Minneapolisin the north of the country, according to the police.

The mall was put on lockdown — under lockdown — for about two hours because of the “incident.”

Videos and photos uploaded to social media sites show families running around the giant complex, which houses no less than 500 shops.

“The Mall of America is currently under lockdown,” the center’s management said via Twitter, assuring that it was an “isolated” incident at an unnamed store. “Please stay at the nearest safe place until the lockdown is lifted,” she added to customers.

Video uploaded to Twitter shows someone shouting and storming into a store of the sportswear company. Then they are heard shootings.

In another video, frightened families are seen running away, with children in strollers or holding their hands, as private guards patrol with guns drawn. The message “attention, if you are not yet in a safe place, seek shelter immediately” is heard from the center’s notification system.

“We are working on the incident in the northwest part of the Mall of America,” the police of Bloomington, south of Minneapolis, in the state of Minnesota, said on Twitter. “Numerous police officers are on the scene,” he added.

Later, he spoke of starting the process of lifting the blockade, clarifying that the center will remain closed for the rest of the day.

There is, at least so far, no information about casualties.

Eyewitnesses reported panicking after hearing the gunshots, while mall workers noted that they no longer felt safe in the event of a mass shooting, which is common in the US.