Shoppers evacuated from Surrey mall
Posted August 25, 2019 6:40 pm.
Last Updated August 26, 2019 3:43 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
SURREY (NEWS 1130) — Confused shoppers were evacuated from a Surrey mall Sunday afternoon after the RCMP was alerted to a public safety risk.
Mounties swept the Central City Mall and let shoppers back in just before closing time at 6 p.m.
“We don’t want to get into the specifics of the reason we were here,” says Insp. Dale Carr with the Surrey RCMP. “We were called here for a public safety issue. We’ve ensured that the mall is completely safe and it’s back to fully operational.”
The mall, which is across the road from Surrey Central SkyTrain station, was closed for just over an hour.
Vincent Benjamin, who was shopping, says around 5 p.m. an announcement over the PA told everyone to evacuate for “an undiscosed security reason.”
Soon after, stores started closing their doors and police and security were shepherding shoppers outside.
“There is no information,” Benjamin said while waiting outside the mall Sunday afternoon. “It’s just all so sudden.”
Benjamin said he was impressed with how police handled the situation and the crowd kept their cool.
“People were not running, they were just calmly walking out. There was no stampede, no shouting.”
