COLUMBUS – Mother’s Day shoppers ran for cover at Polaris Fashion Place Sunday afternoon but police say early rumors of an active shooter and an evacuation were false.
WHAT CAUSED THE PANIC: 911 calls regarding gunshots@Polaris Fashion Place & that someone was shot. Dispatchers were soon advised by off-duty personnel@the mall that there were no gunshots/no shooting victims. There was an explosion of a bottle of nitrogen a kiosk. Charges to folo https://t.co/HJX8oAgB1j
— Columbus Division of Police (@ColumbusPolice) May 13, 2019
The excitement stemmed from a mishap at a soft-drink kiosk inside the mall that left two people with minor injuries, according to Columbus Division of Police social media posts and some media reports.
Calls to 911 at about 3:30 p.m. reported gunshots, at least one victim shot and the mall being evacuated but none of that turned out to be true.
https://twitter.com/PolarisFashion/status/1127671860425052162
An off-duty Columbus police sergeant determined that a teenager put nitrogen in his soda at a kiosk and it exploded, Cmdr. Gary Cameron posted on the police Twitter feed.
Tweets from witnesses report shoppers took shelter in stores during the incident.
Charges may be filed, police said.
Nitrogen-infused soda has become popular as the carbonation process that uses nitrogen instead of carbon dioxide creates smaller bubbles that form a frothy head and do not sting like ordinary carbonation.