From: News 12 Staff Nassau police were at the Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City on Sunday afternoon after a major uproar caused panic among mall shoppers. Police say the panic stemmed from what shoppers thought was an active shooting incident. Detectives say no shots were fired. Nassau police say there was a major riot at the south end of the mall near Macy’s just before 4 p.m. Detectives say there were no signs of gunfire, but that a chair or something hit the floor and made a loud noise. Video on social media captured the moment when parents ran out of the mall with their children in confusion and fear. A social media user posted on Twitter that it was an absolutely “scary event”. He said he heard the sound of people running, screaming, crying and that he never wanted to experience it again. “It’s really scary and, you know, shaky,” said Glen Cove’s Pia Grace LaPay. She was shopping at the Zara store when she heard a disturbance. She and another shopper were then knocked to the ground and dragged into a mall basement thinking it was an active sniper incident. Justin Rodriguez was on the food court. “There was a lot of people jumping, jumping over planters and other things. People are rushing, running out of the dining room,” he said. There were no serious injuries, but then, while police were searching the parking lot for evidence, News 12 Cameras captured a crime scene technician recovering something that looked like a gun. Some stores have been locked. But even with all the chaos in the mall and parking lot, some shoppers on the top floor of Macy’s said they heard nothing. “It was like nothing happened up there, yes,” said Karolina Lempert of Bayside. The mall began to return to normal shortly after police secured the scene. Nassau police say the incident is still under investigation.
