False alarm leads to lockdown at Riverside mall
A false alarm at the Galleria at Tyler Shopping Mall in Riverside Saturday afternoon advised shoppers and workers to shelter in place or evacuate, though no threat was found.
Ryan Railsbeck, a spokesman for the Riverside Police Department, said a mall alarm system was “falsely activated†at 5:15 p.m. That led to a lockdown and an immediate police response.
“We sent just about everybody,†Railsbeck said. “We had a very large response.â€
The police department has at least one officer assigned to the mall at all times, according to Railsbeck.
Railsbeck estimated arriving officers needed less than 10 minutes to confirm there was no danger and that the mall’s security system was inadvertently tripped.
“There was no shooting and no shots were heard or fired,†said Railsbeck, countering social media posts claiming there was gunfire.
Mall management was unavailable for comment.
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