MIAMI, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Sixteen youngsters were arrested Saturday night in a melee that broke out in a Miami area mall, police said.
Aventura police evacuated the area outside the AMC 24 Theaters in the Aventura Mall shortly after 10 p.m. People resisting arrest hit several police and mall security officers, spokesperson Chris Goronitis told The Miami Herald.
Officers used Tasers on several suspects, but no gunshots were fired, Goronitis said. Police shut down the theater and nearby restaurants in the mall.
"I was walking out of the movie theater and I saw hundreds of people screaming and running towards me," high school student Alexandra Feurerma told the Herald. "Throughout the mall, everyone was just screaming and running around. The police got everyone out of the mall and outside and they wouldn't let anyone in. There was literally a stampede of people running towards me at the movie. I had to stand against the wall so I wouldn't get hurt."
Aventura police received assistance from several other departments.
Goronitis said that the police have had problems with crowds at the AMC 24 Theaters in the past, but nothing on this scale.
