April 3, 2026, 5:03 a.m. CT
A chaotic scene unfolded at Bayshore Mall in Glendale on Sunday, March 29:
Dozens of kids and teens ran around, yelling, punching and shoving. Social media videos depicted groups getting into physical fights. Kids were encouraged on social media to submit the videos.
A similar scene happened the next day at Moody Park in Milwaukee, this time resulting in gunfire.
At Bayshore, Glendale police arrested 14 adolescents, between ages 12 and 19, on referred charges of disorderly conduct, battery and resisting an officer, according to police chief Rhett Fugman.
Milwaukee police said they arrested a 17-year-old girl and continue to seek an unknown shooter in the Moody Park incident. They said no injuries were reported.
Both gatherings were “teen takeovers” – large groups of teenagers in public spaces. They’re not a new concept – or specific to Milwaukee.
In some cases – like these two, which happened during many area schools’ spring break week – the gatherings turn violent.
Tory Lowe, a Milwaukee activist and host of 101.7 The Truth’s “The Tory Lowe Show,” said he went to Bayshore March 29 after learning about the takeover to see what was going on. He described the scene as high-energy and difficult to control, with multiple fights happening at once, scattered around the area.
“There were youth that had no fear of the police,” Lowe said.
Vaun Mayes, who runs the violence prevention group Community Task Force MKE, said he went to Bayshore to try to prevent the takeover from escalating into violence. Mayes estimated that, at its largest, there were probably between 100 and 120 adolescents at the outdoor mall.
While Milwaukee community leaders expressed concerns about safety issues and the challenges associated with identifying the takeovers’ organizers, some also say the events indicate a need for public spaces for youth.
Teen takeovers happen nationwide in recent years
Nationally, the social media term “teen takeover” seems to be a fairly recent invention.
Darren Linvill, a social media forensics expert at Clemson University, searched a social media monitoring tool for the terms “teen takeover” and found that mentions of the trend were nearly nonexistent before spiking in 2023.
While some mentions referred to unrelated events, Linvill said most were news reports of teens descending on malls or similar public spaces.
Linvill said he also located accounts posting flyers about teen takeovers in other states.
The Indianapolis Metro Police Department posted March 28 on its Facebook page that it had identified and contacted the individual responsible for creating a flyer that encouraged teens to attend a “Castleton Mall takeover.” The police department declined to provide the Journal Sentinel with more details about the person responsible.
Word of teen takeovers spread through social media and AI graphics
Both in Milwaukee and in other cities, word of the planned takeovers spread to teens through social media.
Ahead of the recent gatherings in Milwaukee, several Instagram accounts posted AI-created graphics with bubble letters, bright colors and AI images of people laughing and having fun. The aesthetic is similar to AI images published by takeover accounts in other cities.
Lindsay Grace, a professor at the University of Miami who researches AI and media literacy, looked at teen takeover Instagram accounts related to Milwaukee-area takeovers. He said he couldn’t determine if they share a common source. But due to their similar aesthetic and tone, they didn’t seem to be completely independent of each other.
He said the accounts appear less focused on organizing events than on building an audience.
“All of the accounts seem like they are designed to bolster someone’s status, likely using each account to create the appearance of followers,” Grace said.
Mayes, who has worked with adolescents since 2016, said he’s noticed a trend of young people seeking internet clout through viral videos.
“It almost becomes a competition,” he said. “It’s like a thing of trying to have the wildest footage online, in comparison to other places. The whole point of it is to be as obnoxious and unruly as possible.”
It’s tough to know who’s promoting a teen takeover
Because they’re promoted through social media, Lowe said many parents likely don’t have an easy way of knowing if their kids are going to one of these large-scale gatherings.
“This was organized on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, in their algorithms,” he said. “So a lot of the adults don’t get these posts. You’ve got to be in high school, you’ve got to be plugged into the teen algorithm to get these posts.”
He said nature of the AI promotions for the events also means it’s challenging to tell who’s behind them.
“Is this an adult making these flyers?” he said. “Is it a young person making these flyers? This is AI, so we don’t really know. Is this somebody trying to create chaos?”
The Journal Sentinel tried to contact one TikTok account and two Instagram accounts associated with the events but didn’t get responses.
Lowe said if the organizers can be identified, community leaders can work to redirect their energy toward something more positive.
Lowe and 101.7 FM annually host a community clean-up, partnering with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, to encourage community-building and facilitate neighborhood improvements. This year’s clean-up is April 18 and will go to three locations to pick up trash. After the March 29 incident at Bayshore, Lowe used ChatGPT to create a spoof of the AI takeover graphics to promote the event.
“Many times, the adults that can actually help the situation and the kids that are causing the chaos … they need a bridge. So, many times, you’ve got to find a way to create the bridge so they can get organized,” Lowe said. “I’m putting pressure on the parents to bring their kids who wanted to go to Bayshore to the clean-up.”
Most kids at takeovers aren’t there to cause trouble, community leaders say
Despite the violence at Bayshore and Moody Park, community leaders said they don’t think most of the kids at the takeovers intended to cause chaos.
Some of the promo graphics that circulated online included phrases like “no drama, just vibes” and “no trashing the place.” A graphic spreading news of the Bayshore takeover included “pull up with your crew, shop, chill, no drama.”
“A lot of those kids were going into the stores and buying stuff, sitting down to eat … until the mass of the crowd got there,” Mayes said about the Bayshore event. “Some of them actually are coming to have a good time and be with their peers.”
Lowe similarly said that many teens appeared to be at Bayshore for innocuous reasons.
“When I went up there to see what was going on, these teens were dressed up,” he said. “They had their nice clothes on, Jordans on … a lot of the kids had their makeup done. These were kids going to an event.”
While some online commentary framed the events as opportunities for shoplifting, social media expert Linvill said it appears the motivation runs deeper than that.
Teen takeovers happen at skate parks and trampoline gyms, too – places teens are normally welcome, just not in those numbers.
“Kids just want to be a part of something,” he said. “Social media facilitates that. Sometimes, it gets out of hand.”
Milwaukee area needs more spaces for kids to hang out safely, but money’s an issue
Tomika Vukovic, who represents Glendale’s 1st District, tied the recent incident at Bayshore to a broader issue of the lack of gathering locations for kids.
“Schools close early. YMCAs are usually open Monday through Friday up until 6 or 7 at night. Where are these kids suposed to hang?” Vukovic said.
Both Mayes and Vukovic said there are Milwaukee organizations working on offering safe, inclusive spaces for kids that align with their interests – but that many of those programs need more funding.
Mayes was part of the group that organized We Locked In MKE, an overnight “lock-in” for youth ages 13 to 17 promoting safe gatherings of peers. He said the lock-ins were organized after Deer District shootings in 2022, but the group has hosted fewer events each year since then – none so far in 2026 – due to a lack of funding.
“Part of the conversation is,” Mayes said, “what can be done as alternatives to direct these young people to, so that they’re not involved in this stuff?“
Contact Kelli Arseneau at (920) 213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @ArseneauKelli.
Quinn Clark is a Public Investigator reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She can be emailed at QClark@gannett.com.
