Danbury Police rushed to the Danbury Fair Mall Friday evening upon fears shots were fired in a fight at the food court, but police said it didn't happen.
Witnesses said a crowd ran from the food court through Forever XXI, and at first people who saw the dash through Forever VVI said it looked like a big sale or a celebrity appeared.
"Everybody started running in the same direction, and at first I thought people were chasing a celebrity," said Emma Lutz, a Danbury High School senior who was shopping at Forever XXI with friends. "Then everybody started sprinting."
Lutz said about 50 or 100 people left the store through back stairways, but once they got outside, they realized no one else was leaving the mall from other exits.
"One woman said there was a bomb. I got pretty suspicious," Lutz said, and she and her friend went back inside and asked around. Workers in other stores didn't know what she was talking about.
Danbury Police Shift Commander Shaun McColgan said he got calls about the supposed "shooting," from as far away as California, but no shooting took place.
"We're still investigating, but what it looks like is there was a fight in the food court, and people got scared. Some punches were thrown, and somebody yelled the magic word, 'Gun.' It became a panic after that," Lt. McColgan said.
The mall was never evacuated, and most people inside didn't know anything had happened. McColgan said officers were checking inside the mall looking for anyone who might still be hiding for fear of a gunman.
"It turned out to be a lot of nothing," McColgan said.
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