Why Mass Mobs Of Teens Are Storming California Malls

TORRANCE, CA — A 16-year-old was shot last week in a melee involving hundreds of teens at the Pike Outlets in Long Beach. A teen was stabbed as hundreds of youth swarmed Bay Street Emeryville in the Bay Area in August. And thousands of teens have repeatedly squared off with police, shutting down traffic around the Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance for hours.

Authorities, shop owners, and teens, alike, aren't quite sure why these unruly gatherings are happening with increasing frequency at malls around California. However, many signs point to a social media challenge inspiring large groups of teens to create the disturbances.

What may have started last summer as a nationwide social media challenge, has ballooned into a major problem for some Golden State shopping centers.

And it's likely to happen again this weekend.

"I wanted to make our community aware of information we received about a planned `takeover' by youth from around the County this Saturday at the Del Amo Fashion Center," Torrance Police Chief Jay Hart announced on Friday. "We have seen this type of activity play out in community after community. Most recently, the `takeover' at the Pike (in Long Beach) led to outbreaks of violence and a shooting nearby."

The Del Amo Fashion Center has been a frequent target for some of the largest teen gatherings, often topping 1,000 and prompting police to shut down the mall and surrounding traffic. It requires massive manpower with help from law enforcement agencies from around the region.

Teens around the world have made posts on varying social media sites encouraging their peers to gather and "takeover" public malls, according to the Torrance Police Department. Authorities in Long Beach told Patch that one such post alerted officers before the Pike incident on March 17.

Hart said police are taking steps to enhance safety and staffing at the mall and warned the public that there may be road closures around the mall on Saturday.

"We will not accept criminal behavior, and our Department will have zero tolerance for those who come to our community and cause harm," Hart said in a statement.

The Del Amo Fashion Center was targeted twice during this challenge, once in August 2023 and again in December. During the first incident, a gun was fired at the mall, but no injuries were reported.

The second gathering ended in the arrests of three girls and two boys from neighboring cities. Two people were wounded in the gathering, including one police officer.

As a result, teens at Del Amo Fashion Center aren't allowed to be alone at the mall on Friday and Saturday afternoons after 3 p.m. due to new regulations that went into action this month.

"We are establishing a Youth Supervision Policy as an enhancement to our existing safety plan and to deter activity that is disruptive to our community," Del Amo Fashion Center's property owners said in a statement. "The program is in response to feedback from the community and community leaders, as the center reinforces its commitment to the community to provide a pleasant, family friendly shopping environment."

Teenagers at Del Amo Fashion Center told Patch that while the first gathering was part of the social media challenge, the second gathering was inspired by how much attention they got the first time. The teens said the call-out was posted on Facebook.

Many shopping centers around the country have reported similar instances of teens gathering as part of the same social media challenge, according to investigators.It started in August when brawls broke out at shopping center movie theaters in California, New York, Boston, Illinois, Georgia, Indiana, New Hampshire and Connecticut on National Cinema Day Sunday.

On that day, chaos struck in the Bay Area, where hundreds of young people swarmed Bay Street Emeryville. Several fights broke out, a teen was stabbed and a gunshot was reported in the melee.

More recently, hundreds of teens gathered at The Pike outlets in Long Beach on March 17 where a fight broke out, and a 16-year-old boy was shot, police reported. The Long Beach Police Department told Patch that officers coordinated with nearby partners who have experienced, "similar social media events in their jurisdictions."

"We became aware of a group gathering being planned on social media and put a plan in place to have a visible presence, deter criminal activity, and keep our community safe," LBPD Public Information Officer Alexis Lauro told Patch.

See Related: Massive Teen Brawls Break Out At Malls, Theaters Across California

Both the Torrance Police Department and the Long Beach Police Department said investigations are ongoing into the separate incidents and no additional information was available at this time.

"We need our partners in the schools, in our places of worship, in community-based organizations, and at home to come alongside these kids and guide them to the path of being a good citizen and a good neighbor," Hart said. "Investment in our youth is an investment in making our communities thrive."