Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Police responding to shots fired at a mall in Southern Florida, triggering panic among thousands, determined there was no foul play in the "suspicious incident" Sunday afternoon.
During a 7:30 p.m. news conference 4 1/2 hours after shooting reports, Boca Raton Police Chief Dan Alexander told reporters one unidentified man experienced a trauma injury after hitting his head on a door at Town Center at Boca Raton, rather than being shot.
Police said his injury was non-life threatening and was transported to Delray Medical Center.
Several witnesses reported shots fired in the food court but Alexander said there was a loud noise.
Related
"There's something that happened inside that mall today that caused people to get concerned. A lot of people at one time," Alexander said outside the mall.
The shopping center was placed in lockdown as authorities searched the entire complex.
Around 9 p.m., Boca police announced that the mall was cleared and employees and customers could retrieve items left behind, including their vehicles.
No weapons were recovered, the police chief said.
Three hours after the news conference, Boca police posted on Twitter that the victim "was able to continue out of the mall and a @BocaPolice officer located him in the parking lot."
Boca police originally posted on Twitter shots were fired.
SWAT teams responded to the scene and were searching the mall at about 4:45 p.m. but police said there was no active shooter.
People in the mall were encouraged to take shelter until officers arrived to evacuate them.
Several law enforcement agencies assisted the Boca Raton police department and fire rescue.
