Mall is evacuated over bomb threat sparking Black Friday chaos

THE American Dream shopping mall has reopened after Black Friday shoppers were forced to evacuate following a suspected bomb threat.

Bargain hunters were urged to leave the New Jersey shopping center – which is the second largest in the US – this morning as a precaution.

Shoppers in East Rutherford were told to evacuate the shopping complex at around 8:30 am local time on Black Friday, receiving public safety messages on cell phones.

The New Jersey State Police had reported an emergency situation.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy urged shoppers and mall workers to follow instructions from cops and safely evacuate the mall.

A second alert was sent to cell phones saying the situation had been resolved just after 9:15 am, per local ABC affiliate WABC.

Pictures shared on X showed cops patrolling the lots outside the shopping mall.

Disgruntled shoppers were pictured standing outside the mall, waiting to be allowed to head back inside.

Troopers were on patrol inside the shopping center following the scare.

Black Friday is one of the busiest shopping days for Americans, with up to 130.7 million planning to shop today, per the National Retail Federation.

The shopping mall is the second largest in the US, with hundreds of stores and an indoor amusement park. It opened at 7 am this morning.

A post on The New York Jets X account said MetLife Stadium has not been affected and parking lots opened at 10 am.

The alleged bomb threat comes just days after a vehicle raced into a checkpoint at the US-Canada border on Rainbow Bridge, near Niagara Falls.

It sparked a massive fireball and left a man and his wife, who were traveling in a Bentley, dead.

The FBI launched a terror probe but New York Governor Kathy Hochul later revealed that there was no sign of a terrorist attack.

The cause of the blast remains unknown but Niagara Falls mayor Robert Restaino speculated that a mechanical failure could be to blame, per The New York Times.

Security fears were heightened during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade on Thursday when pro-Palestine protesters were arrested for gluing themselves to the parade route.

More than a dozen activists temporarily interrupted the annual event in midtown Manhattan just before 11 am on Thursday.

New York City cops were forced to divert the balloons and marchers around the protesters.

Demonstrators were pictured holding banners that read “Genocide then, Genocide Now” and “Free Palestine.”