Woman brandishes gun in King of Prussia Mall food court

A woman brandished a gun in the food court of King of Prussia Mall on Thursday afternoon, sending a crowd of customers running in a panic, but police said there was no active shooter at any time.

There was a dispute between customers at the Five Guys in the mall’s food court and one customer brandished a gun, Upper Merion Township Police Chief Thomas Nolan said in an email. The customer with the gun was taken into custody, said Nolan.

Nolan said no one was injured.

Upper Merion police on Thursday evening said that based on their initial investigation and in consultation with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, the woman was not being charged “at this time” with any criminal offenses.

Police said the woman, who was not further identified because she was not charged, lawfully possessed the handgun and had a permit to carry a concealed firearm.

Police did provide more details about what happened:

Around 12:45 p.m., an argument occurred between the woman with the gun and three other women while they all were waiting in line at the Five Guys in the food court. Police did not describe what the argument was about.

The woman walked away to wait for her food, and at least two of the other women approached her to continue arguing.

“The single female claimed that she was concerned that she was about to be assaulted so she retrieved a handgun from her purse and pointed it at them,” police said in a news release.

“No shots were fired. As the females backed away, the single female returned her gun to her purse,” police said.

When the woman returned to the counter to pay for her food, the other women “re-engaged in an additional altercation,” but no weapons were displayed and no injuries occurred, police said.

Bystanders who saw the gun fled the food court, but no injuries were reported, police said.

An Upper Merion police officer who was on duty in another part of the mall responded to the incident and took the woman into custody and secured the gun, police said.

“All people involved in the original disturbance were identified and were interviewed by the police,” police said.

None of the other people involved were named because they were not charged, police said.

Corey Cohen, a witness who was in the mall near the dispute, said at around 1:15 p.m., he heard shouting coming from the Five Guys. As the argument went on, he saw people suddenly start running away, with most of the people in the food court scattering, he said. Soon after, police arrived at the Five Guys and handcuffed one woman, searching her purse and finding a small handgun, he said.

The woman, who is pictured in images that Cohen posted on Twitter, told police she pulled out the gun after she felt threatened during an argument over one person cutting the other in line, said Cohen. The woman had displayed the gun to three women at the Five Guys, he said.

A mall spokesperson declined to comment, referring questions to Upper Merion Township Police.

No shots were fired, but the mall initially issued an active shooter alert, said Cohen.

The investigation is continuing, officials said, and anyone with information about the incident was asked to contact Upper Merion police at 610-265-3232