Police rushed to the Water Tower Mall on Chicago's bustling Michigan Avenue after a dispute between "two groups" ended in gunfire Friday evening, police said.
A stretch of Michigan Avenue was briefly closed off due to a “possible armed person” near Water Tower Mall, police said about 6:23 p.m. No one was injured, according to a Chicago Police Department spokesman.
"Water Tower secured by CPD and incident is clear," chief communications officer Anthony Guglielmi tweeted. "A dispute between two groups ended with an offender discharging a gun. No one was reportedly struck and no injuries reported."
Officers responded to Water Tower Place for a report of a gunman on the seventh floor just after 6 p.m.
Brianna Harper was shopping at the time of the gunfire.
“All these police just came and they started getting their guns ready.”
Shoppers spilled out onto Michigan Avenue as police rushed inside the mall.
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Employees joined customers taking cover as they heard about a gunman. Jessica Schwartzland works on the second floor.
“I was helping a customer and then all of a sudden a bunch of cops start running to the express elevator," she said. “Then all of a sudden a bunch of customers are in the middle screaming.”
Police say a dispute in the mall between two groups of young people led to someone firing a gunshot into the floor.
Police quickly reopened the mall after calling the gunshot an "isolated incident" and held a press conference shortly after the scene settled.
"This is one of the most heavily populated areas in the city in terms of video coverage," Chicago police Supt. Eddie Johnson said. "So the detectives are working right now and I am very optimistic that we will be able to identify the subject."
Additional patrols were assigned to the area Friday night.
