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BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- More security officers were patrolling the nation's largest mall on Tuesday after a series of fights among dozens of young adults and juveniles broke out Monday afternoon, the day after Christmas and one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

Police arrested at least nine individuals for disorderly conduct after a fight that started in the Mall of America's food court spread throughout the mall, said Cmdr. Mark Stehlik with the Bloomington police department.

Mall officials briefly ordered a lockdown as shoppers fled into stores that shut their doors as those fighting rushed by.

Some witnesses said the melee had the feel of a "smash and grab" flash mob that knocked down shoppers and grabbed items from them as well as kiosks, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

"I was on the third-floor railing and saw a massive group of people" on the first floor, said Makenzie Shofner, 15, of Maple Plain, Minn. "It looked like they were trying to pull people's stuff out of their bags."