Shots fired inside Lehigh Valley Mall, no injuries reported

• The Associated Press
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  The Associated Press (AP) is a U.S.-based not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.

(Whitehall Twp., Pa)  — Shots were fired late Saturday afternoon inside Lehigh Valley Mall but there are no victims that authorities have found, Whitehall Township Police said.

A large police presence remained at the scene Saturday evening as officials said on Twitter that officers were still searching the mall. around 7:30 p.m. Police had arrived on the scene shortly before 5 p.m.

Police Chief Michael Marks said at an 8 p.m. news conference that shots were fired in the mall’s lower level but police have not yet found anyone wounded. No arrests have been made, he said.

Allentown man Steve Royer told The Morning Call that he was walking out of J.C. Penney when he heard four or five gunshots and people started to race toward the mall’s exits.

“It sounded like they were right next to me,” he said.

Ashley Giammona told the newspaper she was with her husband on the second floor when they heard the shots.

“I will never forget the second of silence that happened after the shots, as we processed what we heard,” she said. “Then everyone started screaming.”

The mall was put on lockdown. Video posted on social media shows several officers walking through the mall with guns drawn.

Allentown Police Captain Mike Becker told The Associated Press that his department was assisting Whitehall Township Police but had no other information to share.