Things went down south quickly

This gem was noticed in a news article concerning a shooting at a Pittsburgh mall. “A store manager tells KDKA that an altercation that began as a harmless fight between two groups of teenagers occurred outside of their store. Things went down south quickly when a gun was pulled, causing the mall to implement its lockdown procedure, which led to the arrest of two people.”

https://meaww.com/pennsylvania-juveniles-arrested-shootout-ross-park-mall

This is a mashup of “went south” (fell apart) and “went down” (occurred, or taken place). “Went” is the operative word here, and the source of the confusion. A big thanks to Donna Doblick for spotting this one!