ORANGE PARK, Fla. – Two men and a woman were arrested Sunday following a fight that caused the Orange Park Mall to be evacuated.
According to an arrest report from the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, all three have been charged with child abuse without great bodily harm, though it’s unclear exactly what they did because the witness account provided by a teenager was redacted in the report.
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office said 600 people were cleared out of the Orange Park Mall on Sunday evening after the fight in the food court led to a response from law enforcement officers.
According to a Sheriff’s Office spokesman, there were initial reports and social media rumors that there was an active shooter in the mall, but those reports were found to be untrue after deputies reviewed mall security video and secured all the businesses.
Gail Shlagor has lived in Orange Park for six years. She told News4JAX that she doesn’t feel as safe as when she first moved to the area.
“What happened last night doesnt surprise me at all,” Shlagor said Monday.
An Orange Park resident of 20 years named Gloria also told News4JAX that she “wasn’t surprised.”
Law enforcement officers have responded to several incidents in the area of the mall in the last several years.
Last month, a 13-year-old boy was stabbed to death outside an Orange Park home in a continuation of a dispute that started at the mall.
In August, shots were fired at a carnival in the mall’s parking lot.
In December 2015, eight people were arrested after a fight outside the movie theater at the mall.
The company that owns the Orange Park Mall, as well as other shopping malls around the country, filed for bankruptcy protection in June.