Hundreds of Apple devotees lined up in the predawn darkness Friday at metro Atlanta shopping malls to get their hands on the latest version of the iPhone going on sale at 8 a.m., leading to a chaotic scene at one mall.

At Lenox Square, Atlanta police were called in just before 5:30 a.m. to assist with crowd control. According to police dispatch logs, a caller advised 911 operators that there was a large dispute and “everyone is getting out of control.”

Customers lined up across the street from Lenox Square until being allowed onto mall property before daybreak Friday. That’s when things got chaotic, according to Alan Waugh, who said he made the call to police.

“Everybody just started trampling everyone trying to get across the street and the line went into a complete jumble,” said Waugh, who lives in Mobile, Ala. “I called APD because I was afraid someone was going to get trampled on or hurt.”

John Rumely of Buckhead snagged the first place in line at Lenox Square at 11 a.m. Thursday.

“I’m pretty tired,” Rumely said, adding that this was the first time he had lined up to get his hands on a new phone.

“I just wanted to experience it,” he said. “It’s crazier than I thought it would be. It was chaotic – just for a phone.”

Things were much calmer at Perimeter Mall, where a couple of security guards and one Dunwoody police officer were on the scene before 5 a.m.

Perimeter’s public safety director, Christopher May, credited an advance plan that was posted on the mall’s website with keeping things calm.

Security didn’t allow overnight camping, but did let customers park outside the mall at 1 a.m. and begin lining up two hours later. At 5 a.m., the crowd of about 250 was led into the mall through a service entrance and to the upper level, where the mall’s Apple store is located.

Jose Rodriguez of Atlanta was first in line at Perimeter Mall, saying that he was most excited about the larger screen available on the iPhone 6 Plus.

Back at Lenox Square, Cristina Sanchez said she normally avoids the release day frenzy by upgrading her iPhones online.

“But when I got online to buy it,” she said, “it said ships in 3 to 4 weeks, and I didn’t want to wait that long. I want to see it.”

Sanchez arrived at Lenox Square at 4:15 a.m.

“I’ve always been a fan of the company and the phones,” she said. “I want to work for them some day.”

Sean Walcott, a New York native now living in Atlanta, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he currently owns three iPhones.

“I’m going to buy two today and sell one,” said Walcott, who waited in line all night at Lenox Square. “It’s worth it. I get to post on Instagram and say, ‘Ha, ha. I got it before you.’”