What started as an autograph signing with chart topping boy band Mindless Behavior quickly turned into a full out brawl at Ford City Mall. That outburst spread to the mall's parking lot and nearby stores. There were reports of looting and we are told teens threw snowballs at police responding to the scene.
Moments after a fight broke out inside Ford City Mall on the Southwest side, hundreds of teens are seen jumping on cars and running in different directions.
The chaos happened after an autograph signing by boy group Mindless Behavior who posted about their Chicago appearance on Twitter.
Fox 32 News has learned two people were injured in the mayhem, including a child and a CTA bus driver.
"It was just reckless. We were out here fighting, you feel me... we were out here for JoJo we were out here fighting
I don't know... I wasn't fighting. I was just down here for the entertainment," said Cameron Moore.
One witness said, "They busted out a lady's mirror in the back of her car, knocked mirrors out, they were throwing snow at the police, anything you could think of they were doing that."
"Robert" shot this video from his cell phone. He tells Fox 32 News the police were no match for about seven hundred teens who came to the mall's food court for Mindless Behavior's promotion of their new release All Around the World.
"The police tried to do what they try to do but it was just too many kids," said the witness.
Chicago police say 20 people were arrested in the aftermath and there could be more arrests. It remains a mystery what sparked the fight that prompted the mass melee.
"All the teenagers were trying to get inside the mall but I don't know how many was in the mall," said Latoya Ligon.
"There was a lot of fighting going on inside the mall and they wouldn't let nobody else in," said Charles Morgan.
Fox 32 News was there as teens boarded CTA buses and left the premises under police escort with a police helicopter hovering above. The disturbance prompted street closures and gridlock near the mall.
The injured adult was taken to Holy Cross Hospital. A child was also injured and rushed to Advocate Christ Medical Center. FOX 32 News has learned both suffered minor injuries.
Two people suffered minor injuries and police arrested 19 teenagers during a disturbance involving crowds of young people Saturday at Ford City Mall on the Southwest Side, authorities said.
About 4:45 p.m., a large group of disruptive teens ran yelling through the mall, which is located at 7601 S. Cicero Ave., according to a mall official.
Officials closed the mall minutes later, but the chaotic scene continued outside, where police found between 100 and 200 people damaging vehicles in the shopping center's parking lot, according to a police report.
Two people were taken to hospitals, according to Chicago Fire Department Chief Joe Roccasalva, a department spokesman.
A CTA bus driver suffered minor injuries and was taken to Holy Cross Hospital, said Roccasalva, who said he did not know what happened to him.
A "kid" was also hurt, and that person was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, also in good condition, Roccasalva said.
About 50 police squad cars assigned to multiple South Side districts, including Chicago Lawn, Englewood and Deering, and a helicopter responded to the scene, police said.
Traffic came to a standstill as teenagers jumped on cars, both parked and moving, according to a police report obtained by the Tribune. Many of those involved ignored orders to disperse, and police arrested 19 people between the ages of 13 and 18, according to police.
One teenager was charged with battery, and another was charged with criminal trespassing, Chicago Police Department News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro said. The 17 remaining teens were charged with mob action. All the charges are misdemeanors, police said.
Officers did their best to control the disturbance, "trying to get everyone out of there safely," News Affairs Officer Veejay Zala said.
During the disturbance, the CTA had to reroute the No. 79 buses, which travel on 79th Street, as well as other buses in the immediate area.
Earlier in the afternoon, members of the teen band Mindless Behavior had appeared at the mall food court from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. to promote their new release, "All Around the World," said John Sarama, the mall's senior general manager.
The band's autograph signing drew approximately 1,000 parents and children, primarily mothers and girls between the ages of 6 and 13, Sarama said.
About 45 minutes after the band left, the chaos began, Sarama said.
"A group of older youths came into the mall with the intent of causing havoc and chaos and were running through the mall, screaming, yelling and so forth," he said.
Security staff contacted the police department, and mall officials closed the mall about 5 p.m., Sarama said