Hundreds fled Park Place Mall yesterday afternoon after a shooting left at least three people wounded.

Chelsea Simonson, a UA alumna, was shopping at Forever 21 inside the mall, 5870 E. Broadway Blvd., at around 3 p.m. when she saw the store’s employees running towards the doors, locking all the customers inside.

“”I thought it was a terrorist attack,”” Simonson said. “”I freaked out because there didn’t seem to be any plan or order to the way employees were running around trying to lock the doors.””

Simonson said she asked an employee to be let out and then searched for the nearest mall exit. Once she got outside, she said she saw hundreds of people running towards their cars in the parking lot.

The shootings took place at Dillards and extended into the food court nearby, where witnesses saw police handcuffing a man. Police later chased and handcuffed another man outside the mall.

“”It was definitely scary. Everyone seemed to be in a panic,”” Simonson said.

Police said they believe the shooting may be gang-related, according to The Associated Press.

Park Place Mall includes 120 stores, 22 restaurants and 20 movie screens, all of which were evacuated. The chaos caused a massive traffic jam in the parking lot and the nearby roads.

– Yusra Tekbali