Kentucky’s Mall St. Matthews Shuts Down After Brawls Involving Up to 2,000
Chain-reaction brawls involving up to 2,000 people erupted in one of Kentucky’s largest malls Saturday night, forcing the entire mall and businesses in the surrounding area to shut down, police said.
The hours-long chaos at Mall St. Matthews began about 7 p.m. ET when the six St. Matthews police officers assigned to the mall for the holiday season began responding to “disturbances,” said Officer Dennis McDonald, a police spokesman.
“As they were responding to those disturbances, others were breaking out. … Disturbances started to feed on themselves.” McDonald said. “They were just overwhelmed with a number of calls for service and reports of disorder.”
The officers on duty at the mall called for backup, and 50 officers from five different agencies responded, according to police.
“It was a series of brawls” involving 1,000 to 2,000 people ages 13 to their early 20s, McDonald said, adding that “the entire mall” was affected.