Customers are required to wear masks when entering the stores. Mall manager Bob Dye said security guards gave out the mall’s entire supply of 400 masks on Monday.

The mall was reopened by 7:45 a.m., LeBlanc said. "We swept through the mall, confirmed that there was no explosive gas in the mall and the scene has been handed back to the mall," LeBlanc said.

A new COVID-19 vaccine clinic that opened this week at the Dimond Center mall means it is now possible to get vaccinated any day of the week in Anchorage without an appointment. The clinic, run by ...