JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Holiday shopping trips to the Avenues Mall were interrupted Wednesday morning after an incident reported near the mall prompted shoppers to be evacuated.
Witnesses told First Coast News that security told everyone to evacuate the mall because there was an active shooter and the store needed to go on lockdown. Many people began posting on Facebook that there was an active shooter at the Southside shopping center.
THE QUESTION
Was there an active shooter at the Avenues Mall in Jacksonville?
THE SOURCE
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office
THE ANSWER
False
No, there was not an active shooter at the Avenues Mall on Wednesday in Jacksonville.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said on social media that an apparent road rage incident near the Avenues Mall on Wednesday led to a reported aggravated assault.
"There has been nothing identified that would indicate an active shooter anywhere in or around the mall," JSO said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Officers said they are talking with a "potential victim" involved in the reported assault and will remain on scene to continue investigating.
First Coast News Crime and Safety Analyst Mark Baughman said a source told him the road rage incident occurred in the mall parking lot.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office previously told First Coast News that there was a report of an "armed assault," but no suspect or victim was located.
This incident comes less than a week after a man was shot in the Avenues Mall parking lot after getting involved in a fight.
“I saw some guy he ran in through the front entrance and it didn’t click at the time, but he was dripping blood," Caleb Koch, who works at the mall, told First Coast News. “When everyone else saw it, they all got up screamed, ran. I went back to my store. I just waited until things died down.”