A fight among six youths in which garbage cans were thrown at a Santa Ana mall Friday night prompted false reports of a shooting, police said.
Officers responded just after 8 p.m. to the Westfield Main Place mall at 2800 N. Main St., but found no victims and no evidence of a shooting, Santa Ana police Sgt. David Lima said.
Police were questioning the youths involved in the fight, Lima said.
Social media lit up with Christmas shoppers reacting to the false gunshot reports.
"SHOOTERS WITH SHOTGUNS," said Scott Grissom.
Julie Streenz wrote: "Emergency at Mainplace mall. They are evacuating us. I have no idea what is happening."
Calvin Ramirez captured video on his phone of frantic customers running through a store.
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"So imagine being at the mall ready to pay when all of a sudden everyone in the mall starts running out, some people saying bomb and the others saying there's gun shots," he wrote. "First thing that came to mind was take cover and record."
