TUKWILA, Wash. — A 13-year-old boy was the lone person booked into detention related to a fight at Southcenter Mall that prompted an evacuation on Sunday night.
Tukwila police say the fight began among a small group of teens between the ages of 13 and 16. The teens knew each other, but it was unclear what started the fight, police said. Soon after, more than 75 other teens gathered to watch the fight happen, creating a panic at the mall, police said.
The fight prompted a large police response and the evacuation of the mall. Initial reports suggested shots had been fired, but investigators discovered that was inaccurate.
The 13-year-old was booked into the King County Juvenile Detention Center on charges of unlawful possession of a firearm. Police said the teen was in possession of a loaded pistol and magazines. Another teen was detained but was released the same day. No injuries were reported related to the fight.
However, the fact that a 13-year-old was in possession of a weapon was very concerning for people in the community.
"Why did he have a gun?” asked Alicia Moore, an employee of Simply Thai near the mall. “How did he get access to it? Why was there a fight and why were there literally children… they're children getting involved."
The incident is leaving her wondering how safe it is for people to work and shop in the area.
"It's obviously concern about not only my safety, but the safety of people who go in the restaurant who dine in and obviously my co-workers,” Moore said. “I never want something to happen to myself or others."
People at the mall on Sunday night said panic ensued when the fight broke out.
"People just run around like chicken cut off with their head, like, they just run. It was just terrible, ya know?" said one man who preferred not to share his name.
"A lot of people just started running in, so, we didn't know what to do," said Thomas Ramos Bautista Jeremaiah, a mall patron.
He and his brother ran into the back of the Apple Store with others to hide. They stayed there for at least 20 minutes, he said, before police escorted them to the parking lot.
The moments were described as "traumatizing," and one child described her horror during the chaos.
"I thought like something happened to (my siblings)," said Rosemary Esmerelda Rojas Bautista, a young girl shopping with her family.
In response to the fight, Tukwila police had a substation with officers monitoring the mall throughout the day on Monday. KING 5 also saw a handful of security guards driving through the parking lot. Despite these safety measures in place, Moore believes more needs to be done to curb incidents at the mall long term.
“There needs to be more security and more accountability from the mall when events occur because I work across the street from the mall and it is about every two weeks right now I hear some kind of commotion, either a fight or just some kind of violence," Moore said.