A crush of girls drove boy band B5 from the stage, forcing Brookdale Center to close for more than two hours.
Terry Collins, Tom Ford and James Walsh, Star Tribune
BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. - Amber Andrews, 13, got to Brookdale Center at 10 a.m. Saturday with one thing on her mind -- seeing the rapidly rising R & B boy band B5 give a free concert. After waiting for more than three hours, Andrews and approximately 2,500 people, mostly girls between 10 and 17, finally got their wish.
But just as B5 finished its first song -- "You Got Me" -- and started the second, an enthusiastic fan jumped on the stage. Within seconds, the crowd surged forward and onto the stage, sparking what one witness called "total chaos."
Witnesses and law enforcement officials said several girls were stepped on, the band was whisked to safety, and the Brooklyn Center mall was cleared and closed for more than two hours.
Four people were taken to North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale where they were treated for minor injuries and released. Five others were treated at the scene.
Brooklyn Center police officials said no one was arrested.
"I was right in front," said Andrews of Minneapolis. "Girls were running on stage, security guards were throwing them off. The girls were tearing off [band members'] clothes."
It got so bad that shopkeepers near the stage area in the mall's Marshall Field's Court pulled young children who had been separated from their parents into the safety of their stores.
"Things were falling off the stage, girls were falling off the stage, girls started fighting. People were falling down and getting hurt," said Theresa Curtis, who works at a store in the mall. "We took a few girls into our store that were missing parents."
Asked if there was enough security at the event, Shelley Klaessy, the mall's marketing director, said more than 20 people were working the concert -- 10 mall security guards and at least 11 Radio Disney personnel.
"I think we pulled together the right amount," Klaessy said.
However, Rosalind Dillard, 27, of Minneapolis, who took her daughter Surae, 10, to the show, said, "I didn't think they had enough [security]. I didn't see a whole lot."
The concert was just the third show of B5's Jingle Jam tour, sponsored by Radio Disney. According to the Atlanta-based group's website, the five brothers who make up B5 have "clean lyrics, age-appropriate content and good, old-fashioned charm." The tour is scheduled to end Dec. 31 in Boston.
"It just seemed like a girl frenzy," said Christopher Taykalo, a spokesman for Radio Disney, 1440 AM in the Twin Cities.
The concert began at 1 p.m., with an opening performance by the group Everlife. The bands started their tour last weekend in Indianapolis.
Sarah Ross, a guitarist with Everlife, said the Indiana show "was pretty tense, but nothing like this. I think the crowd was really excited, and they connected with the guys when they got on stage."
B5 hit the stage about 1:30 p.m. The fans hit the stage minutes later.
Cherrelle Green Rivers, 13, of Minneapolis said she saw band members getting stepped on onstage, having their clothes ripped and even their jewelry snatched.
"I was worried about the boys," she said.
Tamy Johnson, who works at Twins Town, a men's clothing store near the stage, said: "A lot of girls rushed the stage and grabbed a boy [in the band]. He ran to the back. Another boy, he just ran. Security escorted some of the boys out the back."
She also saw a girl fall.
"A little girl hit her head on the floor because her foot was stuck between the stage and a speaker," Johnson said.
Police from 23 jurisdictions responded, including units from Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Blaine, Fridley, Minneapolis, Golden Valley and the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office. Witnesses said some police were wearing helmets, and some had police dogs.
Police immediately started clearing the mall. At about 4:15 p.m., Brookdale stores began reopening.
Precious McKinney, 12, of Minneapolis came to the concert with a friend and her mother. She was left stranded amid the pandemonium.
She said it would be the last concert she would attend.
Unless ...
"If it's Bow Wow," she said about the rapper who toured with B5 this summer. "Then I'll be there."
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