--- description: A series of brawls involving up to 2,000 people erupted in a Kentucky mall, forcing the entire shopping center to shut down. title: 2,000 People Brawl and Shut Down Kentucky Mall image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 2,000 People Brawl and Shut Down Kentucky Mall  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 27, 2015 7:45 PM CUT  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 27, 2015 7:45 PM CUT A series of brawls [involving up to 2,000 people erupted in a Kentucky mall](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kentucky-s-mall-st-matthews-shuts-down-after-brawls-involving-n486341?cid=sm%5Ffb "undefined") Saturday, forcing the entire shopping center to shut down amid continuous outbreaks of violence, police said. Stores were advised to close after the chaos took over [Mall St. Matthews in Louisville](http://www.mallstmatthews.com/en.html "undefined") at about 7 p.m., St. Matthews Police spokesman Dennis McDonald told _NBC News_. “Disturbances started to feed on themselves,” McDonald said. “This was a riot. It was crazy.” The chain-reaction of fights involved at least 1,000 teenagers and people in their early 20s, but as many as 2,000 people could have been part of the melee, he said. Some of them were “climbing on the grates” as businesses were trying to shut down, NBC reports. It’s unclear how the brawls began. Minor injuries were reported, none among officers, and there have been no arrests yet, the news outlet said. Management at the mall could not be immediately reached for comment Sunday. \[[_NBC_](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kentucky-s-mall-st-matthews-shuts-down-after-brawls-involving-n486341?cid=sm%5Ffb "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4161799/brawl-kentucky-mall/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4161799/brawl-kentucky-mall/"},"headline":"2,000 People Brawl and Shut Down Kentucky Mall","datePublished":"2015-12-27T19:45:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:02:10.088Z","description":"It’s unclear how the brawls began","url":"https://time.com/4161799/brawl-kentucky-mall/","keywords":["Crime","Kentucky"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4161799/brawl-kentucky-mall/","name":"2,000 People Brawl and Shut Down Kentucky Mall"}}]}] ```