Shoppers at Cornwall Centre evacuated due to alleged bear spray incident

Shoppers at the Cornwall Centre said they were told to leave the mall because of a bear spray incident Thursday afternoon.

Several people were gathered outside, with a police cruiser parked on the street, at about 4:30 p.m.

Multiple people on the scene told 980 CJME that a noxious smell came from the top floor.

Amber Anderson was there with her sister and friend.

“When we were going up the escalator, there was a cleaner. We thought that they had just sprayed something, and we started coughing. Then everyone else started coughing so we got really confused … Then someone came up to us and told us ‘There’s bear mace, don’t go over there,'” she said.

Her friend Hannan Suleiman said that you could actually see a mist of bear spray in the air.

It was a painful experience for her.

“Your eyes start stinging and burning. It hurts … you start to get dizzy, and there’s panic filled with physical pain. It’s just this scary feeling,” Suleiman said.

980 CJME has reached out to police for more information on the incident.