Reports of a gun at Myrtle Beach fireworks show cause panic

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Police said someone referenced a gun during a fight at Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle Beach July 4, causing people to panic in the middle of the fireworks show, WPDE reported.

Videos on social media show thousands of people running and some hiding in stores and businesses.

"This incident began as a fight. During this fight, someone referenced a gun or active shooting situation, which caused people to flee or run from the scene," Capt. Joey Crosby, with Myrtle Beach police, told WPDE.

Police said that’s when the panic really started to spread.

"As people were running away from the scene, we had other people saying, 'Why are you running?' they then tell this person, 'Because someone back there has a gun,' or 'It's an active shooter style situation,' that person then tells somebody else, and they are seeing more and more people running from that scene," Crosby explained.

Channel 9 spoke to a man from Charlotte who said he was there with his wife and three children.

He said so many people were scattering, he lost his 9-year-old son for 10 minutes.

He called it a very scary experience.

Police said they found no evidence of a shooting.

"We had officers telling people, ‘Go inside this store and stay inside this store’ and they were doing so to make sure that the public was safe, until we felt comfortable and we knew what was happening," Crosby said.

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