ORLANDO, Fla. – Videos circulating on social media of a fight Sunday at Mall at Millenia which shows an individual pointing a handgun will result in more charges, however, Orlando police have not said who has been charged or what charges they will face.
A spokesperson for the Orlando Police Department said officers responded to the mall near the Macy’s store around 3:16 p.m. When officers arrived shoppers were fleeing out of the department store and told police they heard shots fired in Macy’s.
On Wednesday, OPD released the incident report and said detectives had reviewed videos of the incident that sent shoppers running.
According to the report, a Macy’s security officer told police he saw about 15 people running up the escalator and he pursued the group thinking they may be shoplifters.
The security guard said they saw an unknown male being “assaulted by the group." The assailants were using mannequins and store property to hit the victim, causing about $6,800 in property damages, according to the report.
Police spoke to the 21-year-old victim who said he didn’t know his attackers and he was in Orlando visiting with friends. The victim declined to press charges.
Detectives reviewed surveillance footage from Macy’s showing the group beating the victim to the ground and hitting him with nearby mannequins until they broke into pieces.
Officers who responded also spoke with another person, who was with the beating victim. His name is redacted in the report. That individual had a Glock 44 handgun and was taken into custody.
Police said the person with the gun said while he was at the mall, a group of people started staring at him. According to this person, the group started to shout insults at him and threaten him and his friend.
The individual said one of the group members took off his shirt and he took that as a sign he wanted to fight, according to the report. At this point, the individual went to his friend and grabbed the handgun out of his friend’s backpack.
The person told police he wasn’t going to shoot anyone but wanted to “scare them" saying it was 10 versus two people.
Police said they reviewed video that shows he was approached by a group of people that began chasing him until he grabbed the backpack and retrieved the handgun. The video showed him pursue the group with the handgun. Police said he was taken into custody soon after and no shots were fired.
The handgun did not have a round in the chamber but did have a magazine with 10 rounds in it, according to the report.
Multiple witnesses spoke to police describing the incident.
“I saw one young man who appeared to be trying to get away, he ran away and went into a friend’s bookbag and pulled out a handgun. He then chased some others into the sneaker store,” a witness told police.
Two other people with the assault victim and the person with the handgun also confirmed the larger group began chasing them and trying to hit them, according to the report.
According to the report, the group of primary aggressors were not found and police have no further information about who they are.
At the time of the report, filed Sunday, no charges had been filed.
On Wednesday, police said detectives are now filing charges related to the event.
“New video evidence has surfaced on social media showing a chain of events inside the Mall at Millenia on Sunday, June 7, 2020,” a spokesperson said in an email. “Detectives are now filing appropriate charges in relation to this new evidence.”
While charges are pending, police did not release the names of the individuals or what penalties they face.