Photo // ABC 57
MALL COPS. South Bend police gather outside the popular Mishawaka mall after the Sept. 12, 2020 shooting.
By: Cienna King
Photographer & Staff-Writer
Many IU South Bend students are familiar with University Park Mall, as it is one of the closest malls to campus and continues to be a local hang-out spot. However, some recent events at the mall have caused concern. In the past few years, there have been a handful of shootings and crimes that have made locals wonder if the mall is a safe place. After Flat Top Grill unexpectedly shut down Jan. 15, I decided to do some digging on what exactly has been going on lately.
The closure of Flat Top Grill this past month came as a surprise to many. I personally was a frequent enjoyer of the restaurant, so I was very upset to hear this so suddenly. As it turns out, Flat Top Grill was more than $99,000 behind on their lease payments. According to reporting by Mark Peterson for WNDU on Jan. 15, the mall ended up going to court to settle possession of the property that the restaurant “wrongfully and unlawfully continues to occupy.”
Oddly enough, the location in Fort Wayne mysteriously closed five days prior to Mishawaka without confirming a reason. If you are ever craving Flat Top Grill again, you will have to take a trip to Chicago, where the only remaining location exists.
While there are word-of-mouth and social media rumors that the Starbucks near the food court may close as well, potentially being bought out by another coffee company, I was unable to confirm this with any reputable sources. The Starbucks in Barnes & Noble is still there, but they don’t accept Starbucks gift cards or serve the full Starbucks menu.
There have also been numerous incidents of violence at University Park Mall within the past few years. The most recent occurrence was on May 11, 2024, when a 16-year old pulled out a gun in the center court and fired several shots. In this instance, the only person who suffered an injury was the 16-year old, who was shot in the foot. The teenager was then arrested and charged accordingly.
On Dec. 17, 2023, there was another shooting, this time in the mall parking lot. A 15-year old was detained after injuring a 16-year-old girl. In January of the same year, a woman was sexually assaulted and robbed in the parking lot. The 66-year-old man who assaulted her turned himself in and was charged accordingly. In 2021, a man was shot in the parking lot, suffering non-life-threatening injuries. In 2020, a man was shot and killed inside of the mall. The shooter is currently behind bars, serving a total of 10 years before he will be released on probation. In 2018, a woman was shot in the parking lot during an attempted robbery, and in 2017 a man was shot and killed in the parking lot. His shooter is now spending 50 years in prison.
Now we ask the question: is it safe to go to the mall? There isn’t a sound answer to this question. There are cases of shootings and violence almost everywhere these days, and it’s hard to know when or where one of these instances is going to happen. It is good to be cautious, but I personally don’t think that a trip to the mall poses an immediate risk to your safety.
On the bright side, University Park Mall celebrated its 45th anniversary last year. Even though malls are not the same bustling teen hangout they once were, business has also been going well, despite a few store closures. Christian Carlson, the mall’s director of marketing and business development, told the South Bend Tribune, “We’re running at more than a 90% occupancy rate.”
Last year also marked the opening of Miniso, KPot Korean BBQ & Hot Pot and the family-owned ice cream shop Tropicana. A new Mexican restaurant called La Patrona also opened on Jan. 31 of this year. Despite negative events happening both at the mall and in the world, it’s important to notice the good in our communities.