While people were evening Christmas shopping at Aventura Mall on December 23, a rumor that a shooting had occurred went viral on social media platforms, causing chaos and panic. “Reports of possible shots fired at the mall came to the department at about 7 p.m.” according to Sun Sentinel. The police was immediately dispatched to the scene and around 8:21 p.m. confirmed it was just a rumor.

The Mayor of Miramar, Wayne Messam, was stuck in the backroom of a woman’s clothing store while panic broke out in the mall. “We didn’t hear any shots, but we heard screaming and folks running through the halls,” he said. All it takes is one person who starts something on social media for everyone else to believe it and start something that wasn’t true or never happened.

Social media can be good, but also has it cons. If there was an actual shooting then it would’ve been good because people were alert ahead of time. But sometimes, people start fake rumors that get the police involved for no reason when nothing actually happened. “Social media plays a huge role, but I’m happy that nobody was hurt” said an Aventura police officer.