Sixteen people were injured at New York’s Barclays Center on Sunday morning in a stampede prompted by a false alarm about an active shooter.
The incident took place at approximately 1:05 a.m. during the Gervonta Davis-Rolando Romero boxing match.
A New York City Police Department (NYPD) spokesperson told The Hill that someone yelled about a shot being fired and the crowd began “attempting to flee everywhere.”
This is so scary pic.twitter.com/06HdOVwY6Z
— yp (@yampapii) May 29, 2022
Seven people were transported to hospitals, the rest were treated at the location.
“The entire event unfolded over just a few minutes, lasting until police confirmed there was no active shooter. It’s unclear what exactly prompted the report of an active shooter,” The Hill’s report says.
Tennis star Naomi Osaka was present at the match and tweeted, “I was just in the Barclays center and suddenly I heard shouting and saw people running, then we were being yelled at that there was an active shooter and we had to huddle in a room and close the doors, I was so f-cking petrified man.”
I was just in the Barclays center and suddenly I heard shouting and saw people running, then we were being yelled at that there was an active shooter and we had to huddle in a room and close the doors, I was so fucking petrified man.
— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) May 29, 2022
“I really hope everyone made it out safely, since I’m tweeting this we made it out ok,” she added in a subsequent tweet.