By Gabriella Licona

Around 2:30PM on Sunday, Sawgrass Mills mall fell under evacuation orders. Many shoppers believed they heard gunshots, specifically in the food court where the incident took place. While many shoppers were led outside to evacuation, others were stuck hiding in stores.

After some time, it was reported that the Sunrise Police searched the mall with no reports of an active shooting. The Sunrise Police have stated that the incident that was mistaken for a shooting was a shoplifter armed with a knife.

Salwa Raza, an individual who was in the mall during the time of the incident comments on the rumors of others hearing a gunshot. She states that the experience was terrifying, being with her family when everyone just started running.

“I’m not sure if that’s true or not since I didn’t hear any gunshots when I was in there before I evacuated. We were outside trying to find where we parked when people started running in the opposite direction of us and someone just said to run,” says  Raza.

The Sunrise Police Department spoke up on Twitter a few minutes after the incident, where they announced that there was no active shooter and they were currently looking for the suspect who had a knife.

https://twitter.com/sunrisepolicefl/status/1028713914220077056?s=21

“Something just happens to you when you hear someone screaming gunman and you see people running. My mom and I ran into the nearest store, Victoria’s Secret, and the manager kicked the door while we stayed hiding inside. Even after when police and ambulance came to evacuate us through the back and told us there was no gunman but just a shoplifter, I still remember the fear in everyone’s eyes and the children crying as they watched everyone run, afraid,” an alumni of Miami Lakes Tech, Melissa Betancourt, shares as she recalls her experience.

A little over an hour after evacuation, the Sunrise Police department cleared evacuation and Sawgrass Mills Mall opened. No one has been injured throughout the process.