FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) \u2014 The Fresno Police Department is warning the public about a potential \u201ctakeover\u201d event being promoted on social media that could target Fashion Fair Mall this weekend.<\/p>\n
Officials say flyers and posts have been circulating online encouraging teens to gather at public locations, a trend seen in other parts of the country that can sometimes lead to large crowds, disruption, or fights.<\/p>\n
Police say they are aware of the posts and are actively working with mall security to prevent any problems before they happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese types of takeover events will not be tolerated in our city,\u201d Fresno police said in a statement, adding that officers will take \u201cfirm action\u201d against anyone involved in criminal activity.<\/p>\n
The trend, often linked to TikTok and other social media platforms, typically involves groups of teenagers choosing a time and location to meet up, which can escalate into chaotic scenes. Fresno police say similar incidents have occurred nationwide.<\/p>\n
Workers at Fashion Fair say they\u2019ve been made aware of the concerns and are preparing for a heavy security presence this weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy manager let us know that the mall has been in contact with Fresno PD,\u201d said one employee. \u201cWe\u2019ve been given security contact information in case anything happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some workers said they are planning to temporarily close stores if needed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s kinda crazy that teenagers are taking over,\u201d said Robert Timmer, a Sports Station employee. \u201cI\u2019ve seen things happening in other parts of the country too, and now it\u2019s possibly here at home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other employees expressed concern about safety and the impact on families and businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt might bring chaos someone might get hurt or something stolen,\u201d said Vieira McClendon, another worker. \u201cThe mall is supposed to be a fun hangout place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mall management said they are confident in their security systems and expect police presence to help deter any problems.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think anything\u2019s actually going to happen,\u201d said one manager. \u201cThere\u2019s a pretty big police presence, especially on weekends.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fresno police say extra officers will be deployed in and around shopping areas they believe could be targeted, including Fashion Fair Mall.<\/p>\n
They are also urging parents to be aware of their children\u2019s social media activity and reminding the public that any unlawful behavior will be met with enforcement action.<\/p>\n
Officials say the situation remains under monitoring as the weekend approaches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) \u2014 The Fresno Police Department is warning the public about a potential \u201ctakeover\u201d event being…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294295,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-294294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}