Fireworks Spark Panic Among Pride Goers At Washington Square Park

WEST VILLAGE, NY — Celebration turned to terror Sunday night when the sounds of fireworks triggered a stampede of celebrating Pride-goers who believed mistook for gunshots in Washington Square Park.

Panicked revelers fled the park at 8:50 p.m. when fireworks were unexpectedly let off, police said and video shows.

Among those caught in the panic was Washington Post journalist Shannon Liao, who attributed the response to Pride-goers fears of gun violence.

"So many QTPOC running away for fear of a mass shooting," Liao tweeted. "We had no choice but to flee on instinct, or face being trampled on — heart-breaking to see."

Video that shows a mass of people fleeing the West Village park has since been viewed more than 124,000 times.

A Pride attendee among them later said it was a moment they would never forget.

"I'm like still traumatized from what happened yesterday at Washington Square Park," the person wrote. "One minute we were vibing and the next I was running for my life with my friends."

Nearby restaurants and businesses were also sent into a panic by the sight of people running out of the park saying there had been gunshots.

"Dinner interrupted by Washington Square Park stampede last night — sheltered in place underground waiting for news of shooting/bombing based on people sprinting inside the restaurant for their lives and screaming at us to get down," one local restaurant goer wrote on Twitter.

Another nearby patron locked themselves in "a restaurant bathroom with 10 other people because everyone started panicking outside and thinking it was a mass shooting when it was fireworks at Washington Square Park."

NYPD tweeted out at 9:15 p.m. that "there were NO shots fired in Washington Square Park," saying it was fireworks instead.

"Washington Square Park last night was terrifying…I am a motorized wheelchair user, my speed limit only goes up to 4mph," one person who was in the crowd Sunday night tweeted. "My friends had to shield me. We lost some people in the crowd/my sibling got trampled trying to run. CAN QUEER PPL FEEL SAFE FOR ONE DAY?!

People were potentially more on edge than usual over possible gunshots given the recent string of mass shootings that includes what happened in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo.

Additionally, on a local level, the recent Supreme Court ruling striking down a law that limits people from carrying concealed handguns in New York also has added to anxiety surrounding gun control.

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