ONE person is in custody after cops in armored vehicles swarmed the Mall of America following reports of a suspect with a gun.
The Bloomington Police Department shut down part of the mall parking lot and warned the public to avoid the area as they negotiated with the suspect.
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"Crisis Negotiators are communicating with the male and attempting to negotiate a surrender," police said in a tweet.
The Mall of America confirmed to The U.S. Sun that police were "involved in an isolated incident on the far side of the North Lot."
Hours later, Bloomington police said that one person was taken into custody and that there was no further threat.
Guests were previously being kept out of the immediate area but the mall remained open.
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Armored trucks were spotted and traffic restrictions were in place as police investigated.
Video posted to Twitter from inside the mall showed over a dozen people trying to leave to no avail.
A witness who claimed to be in a nearby hotel tweeted that people were evacuated from the circus.
"Our hotel, the mall and all the roads around it are locked down. Hundreds were evacuated from the Circus," the tweet read.
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The Royal Canadian International Circus was scheduled to perform at 4pm but the tent was evacuated around 4.15pm, according to local media.
The circus tent is set up in the North parking lot - the area police urged residents to avoid.
The mall - located in Bloomington, Minnesota, about 10 miles south of Minneapolis - has been the site of several incidents in the last year.
A man was fatally shot after an altercation that took place during the holiday shopping rush in December.
Shots were also fired during an isolated incident last August that left the mall on lockdown.
