Police have arrested one suspect and seized one gun at the Capital Pride Parade in Washington, D.C., after rumors of an active shooter sparked mass panic and people running for cover at around 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.
No shots were fired, but at least 10 people were injured after being trampled in the crowd.
A police offer told the Washington Examiner that two people were fighting in Dupont Circle, and one of the people involved in the altercation showed a gun. When people who had gathered at the scene saw the gun they began to flee.
The identity of the suspect has not been released.
Kevin Donahue, the D.C. deputy mayor for public safety and justice, tweeted at around 8 p.m. that there is no active shooter after people heard loud pops that some witnesses described as sounding like gunshots.
The Metropolitan Police Department retweeted his message.
“In all my years I have never seen this level of panic for something that didn’t occur,” a police officer who has been with the city for over a decade told the Washington Examiner.
The Capital Pride Alliance, which produces the gay pride celebration in the nation’s capital, said there was a “reported incident in Dupont Circle during the Capital Pride Parade” and that police were assessing the situation.
There was a reported incident in Dupont Circle during the Capital Pride Parade. The police are assessing the situation and will make a determination of how best to proceed.
— Capital Pride (@CapitalPrideDC)
June 8, 2019
Fifteen minutes earlier the Twitter account warned people to “stay calm and get to safety.”
Video shared on social media shows people running through the streets of downtown D.C.
Capital Pride Alliance said the parade had ended and that police were on site and “the threat has been contained.” City workers began running street cleaners around 8 p.m.
After the incident, Capital Pride Alliance encouraged people to attend a block party on 15th And P Streets in Northwest D.C.
Police have not commented on what the loud sounds people heard might have been. One witness told ABC7 that he thinks it could have been a gate falling over.
Source Article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/panic-at-capital-pride-parade-in-dc-over-active-shooter-scare
Comments