TYSONS CORNER, Va. — Fairfax County Police have confirmed that a report of shots fired at Tysons Corner Center mall was a fallen light fixture; no shooting occurred on Sunday afternoon.
The mall did go on lockdown as police were investigating the reported shooting. Officers responded to the Tysons Corner Center located on 1961 Chain Bridge Road around 3 p.m. Residents were advised to avoid the area as officers worked to clear the mall.
The mall reopened a short time later.
It was the second evacuation within just two months. Tysons Corner Center was evacuated June 18 after shots were fired during a group fight. No one was injured in the shooting, but three people were treated for minor injuries sustained in the evacuation. Ultimately, Noah Settles, who is also known by the rapper stage name "No Savage," was wanted by police after allegedly opening fire inside the mall that day.
After investigating, police announced that they thought the situation may have come about as a result of gang feuds. A decades-old war between the "37th Street" & "Simple City" Southeast D.C. gangs had spilled into Northern Virginia, they believed.
DC Police said the two gangs have been responsible for murders since the early 1990s. But Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis believes it was a coincidence that brought the two gangs into the same mall.