OCPD: 'Party Poppers' Mistaken For Gunfire Inside Quail Springs Mall

According to mall officials, it was a celebration gone wrong. But shoppers inside the mall thought this was a serious matter.

“We saw a couple of kids take off running we just thought it was kids being kids,” said Chevy Condon, Quail Springs mall shopper.

Then, the sound that's becoming all too familiar.

“We heard pop, pop, pop, pop, and I ran into the Van store, and I told them somebody is out there shooting,” said Tracy Adams Quail Springs mall shopper.

Shoppers tried to process what was going on.

“You know I have a conceal carry license, so I know what it sounds like, so for me it was scary, you know me having to wheel my aunt and my family out to get into the car, it’s just crazy,” said Ashley Capps, Quail Springs mall shopper.

Jim Cooke and his wife were leaving the movie theater when they saw the chaos.

“We went out and they had shut out the exit and there were all sorts of policemen around a group of people there. Someone had reported a gunshot,” said Jim Cooke, Quail Springs mall shopper.

911 calls flooded in as shoppers took cover.

“Her dad grabbed her, my husband grabbed my hand, and we just took off running, just because it sounded like it was gunshots,” said Chevy Condon Quails Springs mall shopper.

All the chaos came from what police identified as a party popper for a graduation ceremony at a hair salon

“They were like, we’re sorry, we’re sorry, and we were like, what do you mean? What are you sorry for? And they were like, that was us, we were doing poppers because it was the graduation stuff for our students,” said Adams.

Though shoppers were relieved it wasn’t gunfire, the scare was a little too real and will take some time to process.

“I mean, I might give it a little bit of a break; I mean just for a little bit, I mean, absolutely, she’s still scared of it,” said Marnie Julkowski, Quails Springs mall shopper.

Police say a woman did pass out during the scare and another fell and hurt her leg but the good news from this, is it was not a shooting.