Panicked hip-hop and R&B fans reportedly rushed to the exits of Saturday night’s Lovers and Friends festival in Las Vegas amid reports of gunshots being fired.
Soon, reports erupted online of a ‘stampede’ at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds, with people claiming they were trampled in the rush to leave as screens inside the venue urged festival-goers to remain in place, News 3 Las Vegas reports.
Footage posted online showed thousands of people trying to exit the venue as they walked through the streets in an attempt to get to safety.
Security personnel were then forced to pause the concerts Saturday night, as Metropolitan police investigated the scene.
They ultimately found that the reports of gunfire at the festival grounds were ‘unfounded,’ and the concerts were soon allowed to resume, with Usher taking the stage.
As the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told TMZ: ‘Shortly after 10pm, gunfire was reportedly heard near the site of the Lovers and Friends festival, causing a large group of attendees to exit the venue.
‘At this time, there is no evidence of a shooting, and the initial report has been deemed unfounded.’
Police added that three people were taken to a local hospital with minor injuries, and ‘the show has since resumed.’
Following the confirmation that it was a ‘false alarm,’ festival organizers tweeted: ‘We’d like to thank the local authorities for their quick response.’
Footage posted online showed thousands of hip-hop and R&B fans walking through the streets following reports of gunfire at the Lovers and Friends festival
Some had claimed online they were trampled in the mad rush to leave – and the Metropolitan Police Department later confirmed that three people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries
Lovers and Friends festival organizers tweeted in the aftermath that the show was allowed to continue after the Metropolitan Police Department determined ‘there was a false alarm’
Some exasperated festival-goers took to Twitter in the aftermath of the ‘security incident’ to share how violent their fellow fans became as they made a beeline for the exit.
One user wrote: ‘I truly thought I was going to die tonight, being trampled by people, hearing so many people screaming and crying for their lives.
‘Lovers and Friends music festival was not worth it,’ he continued. ‘I will have PTSD for life!’
Eileen Grafia also wrote that she was ‘traumatized’ by the event, saying: ‘Visually seeing a rush of people coming towards you, other people getting trampled, the fear in everybody’s eyes because people were yelling ‘shooter’ is one of the scariest things I’ve ever experienced.’
And Kia Felicia tweeted that she was one of the people who ‘almost got trampled’ at the music festival ‘and I’m upset they continued the show and showed no concern for those who got hurt.’
Meanwhile, Matt Galilea wrote: ‘Lovers and Friends went from over a dozen trampled and someone seizing at the exit from ‘shooting rumors’ to performing again in 20 mins, and I don’t even think I need to explain how f***** up that is.’
Thousands of hip-hop and R&B fans attended the music festival Saturday night, which featured performers like Akon
Ja Rule performed at sunset at the Lovers and Friends Music Festival at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds hours before people started running towards the exits
Shortly after the Metropolitan Police determined that reports of gunfire were ‘unfounded,’ Usher took the stage
Fans took to Twitter to express their exasperation at what had transpired
The incident at Lovers…
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