Mall 'Evacuation' Caused By Popcorn Machine In Jersey City

JERSEY CITY, NJ — Reports of a possible shooter at Jersey City's Newport Centre Mall on Saturday turned out to be greatly exaggerated.

After 2 p.m. on Saturday, people heard loud noises and began streaming out of the mall, located near the Hudson River waterfront, sources said. The Jersey City police received calls and rushed to the scene.

In the end, reports of shots at the mall — including a report on Fox of a possible "active shooter" — were incorrect.

According to Jersey City spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione, the loud noise that sent shoppers fleeing the mall was from a "malfunctioning popcorn machine."

Wallace-Scalcione said Monday that the mall was not officially evacuated, as some people believed, but "Rather, people panicked and fled on their own."

She noted, "Police quickly determined it was a malfunctioning popcorn machine."

She said police were called to the mall at 2:41 p.m. Saturday.

"In less than 5 minutes, police officers responded, investigated, and determined almost immediately that the calls for shots fired were unfounded," she said.

Shoppers were understandably on edge. In 2019, an argument at the third-floor food court escalated to gunshots, and two men were treated for non-life-threatening shots.

On Saturday, word spread quickly on social media of the police presence and possible "shooter."

A man who took video that appeared on Fox said in a narration that an alarm was pulled and people began running, some dropping bags or getting hurt.

Read more Jersey City crime and safety news here on Jersey City Patch.