Brief scare at Dolphin Mall sends shoppers running

SWEETWATER, Fla. – Despite a brief fire alarm scare, it was a busy Black Friday at Dolphin Mall near Doral. 

There were people fighting for televisions and dozens standing in lines in front of some stores at 11401 NW 12 St. 

According to the Sweetwater Police Department, smoke coming from a restaurant's kitchen set off the fire alarm and a brief evacuation. Some store managers and shoppers panicked and there was speculation about a possible shooter.

"Masses of Black Friday shoppers were screaming, running, starting to cry and ran for their lives," Stefanie Ortmann wrote on Facebook. "Stores locked the gates immediately while people tired to squeeze themselves through their closing gates. We lost our daughter and friends in the mass panic."

The disruption didn't last long. Ortmann found her daughter and her friends shortly after. 

"We have been lucky this time, but it is so terrible to suddenly know what it feels like when a shooter opens fire," Ortmann wrote. 

The mall was open until midnight on Thanksgiving Day and will remain open until 11 p.m. on Black Friday.