NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Police and first responders rushed to Opry Mills Mall following an incident Saturday afternoon, but despite the rumors circulating on social media, that incident was not a shooting, according to officials.
Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) Public Information Officer Kris Mumford said officers responded to reports of shots fired — which “turned out, fortunately, not to be the case” — at the mall around 2:15 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1.
“A fight in Opry Mills Mall has caused a rushed mass exodus of the building,” the MNPD posted on X just before 3 p.m. “Contrary to rumor, the MNPD thus far has no evidence of any gunfire.”
Mumford told News 2 the situation started with a domestic incident inside the Chili’s. A female reportedly came into the restaurant and assaulted her boyfriend who was working there, the fight spilled outside, and that led to the calls of shots fired as people started to flee the mall or shelter in place.
“It wouldn’t be a surprise to think that people might be fearful, especially in light of recent events. People, I think, were all very sensitive to these types of situations, so that claim of shots being fired did go out. We’re investigating that…we’re not ruling that out,” Mumford explained. “We just haven’t found any evidence of that, so as the investigation progresses, we may have more answers in that area, but again, the mall very wisely said, ‘Shelter in place.’ That’s what people did, and right now we’re clearing the mall to make sure that if there is anyone still hiding or not been accounted for that we can locate.”
Mumford said the victim of the fight at Chili’s is safe, but detectives are still looking into the initial assault and whether or not weapons were involved. However, Mumford acknowledged it was possible that people may have thought that plates or chairs hitting the floor sounded like gunfire.
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According to Kendra Loney with the Nashville Fire Department (NFD), even though multiple individuals were assessed at the scene for scrapes and bumps from falling while rushing for the exit or running outside, as well as heightened anxiety amid the chaotic situation, nobody was brought to the hospital.
Authorities said the mall has been evacuated and closed while law enforcement and first responders continue to clear the area, secure the building, investigate, and let anyone who may still be hiding know that it’s safe.
Even though police insisted there was no evidence of shots being fired at the mall, News 2 spoke with multiple people who said they either heard gunfire or were told there was gunfire.
“We were in like the first row of tables by O’Charley’s, which was right by the entry between TGI Friday’s and Applebee’s, so the first thing that was weird is there was kind of a small group of people that kind of hurried out from, we think, Applebee’s, but definitely down that corridor that leads out from in between the restaurants, and then, all of a sudden, we heard a distinctive seven pops,” Andrew Margerison, who was in the food court with his family at the time of the incident, recalled. “It wasn’t very loud, and it took us a minute to kind of realize what was happening.”
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“We were sitting on the little swings over there, right past the food court, and everybody started running and I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ And I see them on their walkie and he’s like, ‘Oh, they’re shooting! You need to get out! Run, run!’” another witness, Ladonte, described. “So we just start running this way, and the people that were coming in, I just told them, ‘Come on out because they’re shooting up in there!’”
According to the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT), both exits to Opry Mills — Exit 11 northbound and southbound — were closed for several hours due to the investigation, but they reopened just before 7 p.m.
(Courtesy: TDOT)
Meanwhile, WeGo Public Transit said stops near the mall would not be in service and remain detoured through Saturday night. However, normal service is set to resume on Sunday, Feb. 2.
No additional details have been confirmed about Saturday afternoon’s incident.
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