ATLANTA – Loud bangs and thick black smoke caused panic at an Atlanta grocery store.
It happened when two suspects lit a fireworks display ablaze, according to authorities.
Authorities are looking for the two young men they say are responsible for igniting a stand filled with fireworks.
It happened inside a Publix grocery store.
Substantial damage was left behind.
"We saw them, they were standing right in front and we heard them kind of laughing around because it's the front display," shopper Janelle Morris said.
Morris was there with her 5-year-old daughter.
"There's the firework display and we were right here when we first heard the initial crackles," she said.
She said she heard loud popping and then the store filled with thick black smoke.
Her first instinct was to protect her daughter.
"Immediately, I fell on top of her because I thought it was a shooting at first and I was like alright, 'Let's go.' And when I realized it was more than that because the fireworks were going down the aisle, I just scooped her up and we ran," Morris said.
Everyone made it out, but Atlanta firefighters said one customer, a 50-year-old woman, was taken to the hospital and two children were treated for smoke inhalation.
While workers clean the inside of the store, firefighters want the two young men found.
When they are found, they'll be charged with arson, for what was likely a prank that caused widespread panic.
"With everything going on in the world today and the heightened alert that our country is at, a lot of people were panicking with this situation, and fortunately we only had one minor injury and everyone was able to evacuate the store," a firefighter at the scene said.
The store's sprinkler system doused the explosion.
Store managers are trying to figure out how much inventory the smoke and water ruined.
