Holiday shoppers forced to evacuate Perimeter Mall following reports of armed gunman near Macy’s

DUNWOODY, Ga. - Reports of an armed gunman at Perimeter Mall Saturday sent some shoppers into a panic as Dunwoody Police surrounded the entrance of Macy’s.

According to Dunwoody police, at the same time they were responding to multiple calls about an armed person on mall property, they were also dealing with a dispute in the parking lot that they believe stemmed from a road rage incident.

The entire incident that took a little over an hour caused quite the shake-up for some shoppers.

"I was just … I felt like … this can’t be," shopper Cynthia Umphlett told FOX 5.

Umphlett said she was inside Macy’s when chaos erupted as employees urged shoppers to get to safety.

"All of a sudden, the Macy’s employees started saying ‘there’s a shooter, run, get out the doors’," she recalled.

Video from another shopper obtained by FOX 5 showed a heavy police presence inside the mall as stores began to initiate a lockdown.

(Credit: Aidan Anchaya) (Supplied)

Aidan Anchaya said he was at Zara searching for holiday deals when he saw the metal gates of the store go down. 

"I walked over to the other side of the store and noticed that all the gates had been closed … some of the other shoppers were a lot more afraid than I was," he stated.

After canvassing the mall, Dunwoody Police confirmed no shots had been fired and the person of interest was no longer on the scene.

"I like it that our police force had enough people to respond as quick as they did today," Umphlett said of Dunwoody Police Department’s response Saturday.

A department spokesperson said they believe the person they were looking for was actually a mall employee who had a gun in his backpack, and it fell out. Police said the vehicle that dropped the mall employee off was involved in a separate road rage incident that lead to a dispute in the mall parking lot.

At least one of the people involved in that road rage incident was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. That spokesperson also said they identified the employee and are planning to reach out to get more information about exactly what happened.