Multiple reports of gunfire came in from The Shops at Riverside (Riverside Square Mall) in Hackensack, New Jersey, on the afternoon of Sept. 22, but the noise turned out to be a display case being smashed inside Bloomingdale's. One suspect broke a watch display case and fled with jewelry. No shots were fired and no one was hurt. Hackensack police, the Bergen County Sheriff's Office and a regional SWAT team all responded, but the mall soon returned to normal operations.
Multiple reports of a shooting came in from The Shops at Riverside (formerly Riverside Square Mall), a large shopping mall in Hackensack, New Jersey, on the afternoon of Sept. 22, but police confirmed that no shots were fired. The sound of someone smashing a glass display case inside Bloomingdale's was mistaken for gunfire. No one was injured.
According to Hackensack police, around 1 p.m., one suspect entered Bloomingdale's, broke a watch display case, grabbed several pieces of jewelry and fled. Several shoppers in the mall mistook the loud crash of breaking glass for gunshots and called 911. Hackensack police, the Bergen County Sheriff's Office, a regional SWAT team and other nearby police units all responded at once. Images of police vehicles converging on the front of the mall were posted on social media, and rumors of a "shooting" spread quickly.
Police: "No shots were fired... mall operating normally"
Hackensack police Deputy Chief Gregory Jisa said no shots were fired and that police are investigating the incident. "Several shoppers in the mall called in what they thought were gunshots because of the sound of the display case breaking," police said, adding, "The mall has since resumed normal operations, and there is currently no reason for the public to be alarmed." As of the afternoon of the 22nd, the suspect had not been apprehended, and a description of the suspect and the value of the loss have not been released.
This kind of "smash-and-grab" theft, in which a thief breaks a display case without using a weapon and flees within moments, has occurred repeatedly in department stores and luxury shops across the U.S. in recent years. Because it is over so quickly, people nearby find it hard to tell exactly what is happening, and, as in this case, a loud noise can be mistaken for a shooting.
Riverside Square Mall, at 390 Hackensack Ave., is a place frequently visited by Korean Americans in Bergen County. If a similar commotion occurs at the mall, it is best to leave calmly through an exit away from where the noise came from and to check police announcements rather than spread unconfirmed rumors. Tips related to this incident can be given to Hackensack police at 201-646-7777.