Mall worker describes commotion, chaos during gathering at Polo Park which resulted in 2 arrests
CBC
An employee at a business in CF Polo Park said she felt stressed out and confused by the commotion when a group gathered at the mall Friday as part of what police say was an open invitation put out on social media.
Denielle Peron, 21, was working Friday and first noticed some commotion around the food court around 4 p.m., but she said the crowd later grew in size.
"About 6, 6:30ish and that's when it really blew up in proportion," Peron said.
"I do remember seeing a group of boys there. They had this stereo … they were running away but there was a huge crowd behind them."
According to the Winnipeg Police Service, around 100 people showed up for a social media-inspired gathering. Officers arrived around 7:15 p.m. and the disturbance lasted 30 minutes before the group dispersed, a statement from police Saturday said.
Peron witnessed the gathering.
"I was actually working at my job when this all happened," Peron said. "I was actually very confused at what was going on, initially."
"I noticed a lot of the employees, including myself and my coworker, were actually very … they looked a little stressed, maybe. Maybe a bit annoyed or disgruntled."
Winnipeg police arrested two young people who face charges of unlawful assembly and causing a disturbance. Both youths were released on undertakings after the arrests. They can't be identified due to provisions in the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
Peron said during the gathering, drinks were being thrown into the air in the food court.
"I do recall seeing a lot of the janitors trying to go towards the area to clean it up, to no avail though," Peron said.
Videos posted to social media show a large group gathered in the mall's food court chanting and cheering. Videos posted online also show police arriving at the mall and arresting two people.
Officers say no weapons, assaults or injuries were reported.
Peron said someone at the mall stopped and showed her a social media account which she was told belonged to a famous TikTok user.
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