Fox Valley mall was put on lockdown from approximately 4:30 pm to 4:50 pm on Saturday, October 19 after a man with an imitation firearm had dropped his weapon accidentally, causing a sound, mistaken to be a shot, which was heard throughout the mall.

Stores inside the mall closed their doors shortly after receiving intel from mall security about the loud bang that was heard around the center of the mall.

“We closed all of our doors and asked everyone to stay in [the back storage room]” Nolan McCormick, a manager for a store in Fox Valley mall states.

Shortly after stores in the mall had closed their doors, the Aurora Police Department arrived and took the suspect into custody. “The suspect fled the scene but was quickly apprehended” (Aurora Illinois Police Department Facebook page) “The mall has been deemed safe”.