The Long Beach Police Department coordinated with stores in The Pike Outlets to close early following a large disturbance and multiple fights among juveniles on Saturday.
There were reports that roughly 200 juveniles gathered at the Long Beach shopping center for a meetup after a social media post promoting the event went viral. Long Beach police apparently got word of the meetup and had officers stationed near the property.
Video obtained by stringer service OC Hawk shows two young girls getting into a fistfight. There was a large group of teens surrounding the two girls as the fight continued, with many seen recording the confrontation on their phones.
Officers eventually intervened and broke up the crowd while arresting the two girls involved. A handful of police officers stayed at the scene to patrol the area. Police reportedly brought in a bus to The Pike Outlets in the event there would be a large number of juveniles to be detained.
The owners of The Pike Outlets and store owners elected to close shops early in response to the incident. The shopping center was closed at around 6 p.m. Saturday and guests were told to clear out. Officers made an announcement that anyone who didn’t comply would be arrested.
“Attention in the area, the property is now closed by management,” Long Beach police said in a statement. “Anyone who remains in the area in 10 minutes will be subject to arrest for trespassing.”
Residents of Long Beach have spoken out after a wave of violence has hit the community recently. A shooting took place in a crowded area on Saturday, but no one was injured.
The no-hit shooting occurred just blocks away from where a food truck vendor was almost stabbed to death while defending an elderly woman being robbed on March 11.
Just eight days prior to the stabbing, another man – who was said to have gotten into an argument while defending a group of people – was fatally stabbed at a Dave’s Hot Chicken restaurant in the Long Beach neighborhood of Belmont Shore.
The suspect in that stabbing was arrested days later at LAX, police confirmed; the restaurant has since started closing earlier every night.
The two women arrested in the fight at the outlets were only identified as an adult female and a juvenile female. It’s unclear what initially prompted the fight.
This developing story will be updated.
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