Mass brawl involving close to 2000 unruly teens shuts down Kentucky shopping centre

WARNING: Graphic video. Shoppers were forced to flee as violence involving almost 2000 people engulfed a mall.

BOXING Day sales are known to get a little bit hectic, but this was something else.

A massive brawl involving up to 2000 people erupted in a Kentucky mall sparking scenes of violent chaos and forcing police to shut down the complex as shoppers fled.

In what authorities described as a “chain reaction brawl”, swarms of mostly teenagers and young adults began warring as pockets of violence engulfed the state’s largest shopping centre on the weekend.

Scared shoppers posted footage of the ugly scenes online with one woman calling it the “scariest moment ever”.

Scariest moment ever and I just so happened to catch it video. 😐 pic.twitter.com/w2OfCUSTCj

— Kaylee (@beatrice_kaylee) December 27, 2015

Police spokesman Officer Dennis McDonald said police began responding to reports of “disturbances” when the violence began spreading.

“Disturbances started to feed on themselves. They (police) were just overwhelmed with a number of calls for service and reports of disorder,” he told NBC News.

Kentucky mall shuts down after brawls involving up to 2,000 people. https://t.co/Vyuyx69RgY pic.twitter.com/mJ4gLXSwAH

— NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) December 28, 2015

In the end, over 50 officers from five different departments were called in to help quell the chaotic scenes.

“It was a series of brawls” involving 1,000 to 2,000 people ages 13 to their early 20s, McDonald said, adding that “the entire mall” was overrun.

Police told retailers to close up their shops but a number of unruly teens made it difficult for shop owners by climbing on the steel grates used to secure the shopfronts.

Officers said it took nearly two hours to close down the mall and get the crowd under control.

“This was a riot,” McDonald added. “It was crazy.”

No arrests were made as police said they focused on dispersing the crowd and restoring order to the shopping centre.

But in the aftermath of the seemingly random outbreak of mass violence, police were stunned at what they had seen.

“I’ve been a police officer 33 years, and I haven’t ever seen anything like this before. We always plan for worst-case scenario, but this exceeded that,” said McDonald.

WARNING: Disturbing content.