Teens Shut Down Mall

Louisville Mall Shut Down After 2,000 Kids, Teens Fight - Mall St. Matthews in Louisville was shut down after as many as 2,000 kids and teens got into several fights, prompting chaos.

Saint Matthews police say it started around 7:00 p.m. Saturday.
Officers say that in the midst of the fighting, some stores were used as safe havens for those trying to escape the chaos.

Eventually, management decided to shut down the mall entirely.

Police say they’ve had enhanced presence at the mall for the past few weeks since another brawl took place on Black Friday.

They said they could not have predicted this.

“This is something that we did not foresee and even with an enhanced police presence when you have that many juveniles with wrong intentions, one feeding upon the other, this is the kind of thing that happens,” said Dennis McDonald with the St. Matthews Police Department.

Saint Matthews Police called for other departments to help them.

Extra buses were called to the area to help clear out crowds, but police say as the mall closed, many of the teens and kids went to other businesses in the area.

Businesses around the mall were encouraged to close for the night as well.

The situation finally began to calm down around 9:30 p.m.