Police: No shots fired at Great Lakes Crossing after false alarm

Auburn Hills — Police say no shots were fired after responding Saturday night to a report of an active shooter at Great Lakes Crossing Outlets in Auburn Hills in what turned out to be a false alarm.

"We have confirmed no shots were fired and there are no victims," the Auburn Hills Police Department said in a tweet just before 9 p.m. Saturday.

Officers responded to the scene around 6:30 p.m. after reports of an unrelated theft incident, resulting in a brawl in the food court of the mall.

Officers deployed tasers to deescalate the incident involving two youths, according to the Auburn Hills Police Department.

Patrons began running after an unknown person yelled "shots fired," prompting reports of an active shooter around 7 p.m., police said in a Saturday night release.

Evacuation and shelter-in-place orders were issued following the false alarm.

Police said although the individuals involved in the fight were detained in handcuffs, they fled the scene and have not been located.

"At this time, we are asking the public for their assistance. If anyone witnessed this incident or has information related to the handcuffed individuals, they are asked to called the Auburn Hills Police Department," officials said.

Auburn Hills Police were assisted by officials from Oakland County Sheriff's Department and Great Lakes Crossing security staff.

Great Lakes Crossing officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The incident came hours after 12 Oaks Mall in Novi, about 31 miles south of Auburn Hills, reopened after police responded to reports of bomb threats just after noon on Saturday.

Police found nothing suspicious and said that the Novi store in question, Nordstroms, was reopening shortly after 4:30 p.m.

These two false alarms come two months after local, state and federal law enforcement teams were deployed on Feb. 7 to at least seven high schools across Michigan after false threats known as "swatting" were made in what some officials called a "coordinated campaign," causing students to be evacuated or sent into lockdown mode.

High schools in Detroit, Jackson, Ann Arbor, Okemos and Portage were the victims of the prank calls, state police said. The Muskegon school district in west Michigan said the high school was targeted with a "false threat," while another threat was made to Nouvel Catholic Central High School in Saginaw Township.

The Feb. 13 mass shooting at Michigan State University followed the swatting calls in less than a week, resulting in the deaths of the three students and critical wounding of five others.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is leading the probe into the Feb. 7 threats but hasn't made any public updates. An FBI spokesperson couldn't be immediately reached for comment.

The high school hoax threats followed a massive increase in threats against Metro Detroit schools in the wake of the Nov. 30, 2021, Oxford High School shooting, which led to an explosion in criminal charges being brought against the alleged perpetrators and has prompted prosecutors to rethink how they handle threats cases, The Detroit News reported in December.

jaimery@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @wordsbyjakkar