A chemical agent is believed to have been fired into the crowd at a Pride Parade event in Baltimore, causing a stampede that left multiple people injured.
Revelers at the Baltimore Pride Block Party reported a chemical, possibly Mace or hairspray, being released into the crowd at about 8:37pm Saturday.
The chaos that followed led to the end of headliner Saucy Santana’s performance and the event being swiftly shut down the Baltimore Banner reported.
Fireworks were also set off at the same location, near the event’s main stage at North Avenue and Charles Street, which contributed to the panic, police said.
Baltimore Police has not yet determined what the chemical was nor who was responsible for disseminating it.
A Baltimore Pride event was thrown into chaos after a ‘chemical agent’ was fired into the crowd
The incident led to the end of headliner Saucy Santana’s performance
Footage from the event showed attendees racing for the exits and screaming as the chemical agent was thrown.
Police said that after the event was shut down the fire department was ‘tending to several injuries from the mass exodus.’
No further information was made available about the number or severity of injuries.
However, a police spokesperson confirmed there was no information ‘to support that this was a targeted attack.’
The event’s organizers, Pride Center of Maryland, said they understood the chemical to have been Mace set off by ‘a group of youths.’
‘Today, our security force is paying particular attention to what Pride celebrants bring in with them’ the non-profit’s executive director Cleo Manago told the Banner.
One witness from the event, Kate Bowers, added to the outlet: ‘All of the sudden, people were screaming and running. It was like a bomb went off. The air was so thick.
The Pride Center of Maryland event was swiftly shut down
Police confirmed there was no information ‘to support that this was a targeted attack’
‘People were throwing up. People were pouring water in each other’s eyes. There was a little kid in a stroller.
‘They were pouring water in the child’s eyes’ she added.
Bowers told the outlet a low-flying police helicopter hovered over the crowd blaring the message: ‘stay calm, the situation is under control.’
‘I’m not sure I’ve quite processed it yet. It was such an abrupt, drastic thing. Waking up this morning. The magnitude of what could have happened hit me’ she added.