Panic at Capital Pride Parade in DC over active shooter scare

A police officer told the Washington Examiner that two people were fighting in Dupont Circle, and one of the people involved in the altercation showed a gun. When people who had gathered at the scene saw the gun they began to flee.

The identity of the suspect has not been released. Police said a woman was also arrested on an unrelated charge.

Kevin Donahue, the D.C. deputy mayor for public safety and justice, tweeted at around 8 p.m. that there is no active shooter after people heard loud noises that some witnesses described as sounding like gunshots.

The Metropolitan Police Department retweeted his message.

“In all my years I have never seen this level of panic for something that didn’t occur,” a police officer who has been with the city for over a decade told the Washington Examiner.

The Capital Pride Alliance, which produces the gay pride celebration in the nation’s capital, said there was a “reported incident in Dupont Circle during the Capital Pride Parade” and that police were assessing the situation.

Fifteen minutes earlier the Twitter account warned people to “stay calm and get to safety.”

Video shared on social media shows people running through the streets of downtown D.C.

Capital Pride Alliance said the parade had ended and that police were on site and “the threat has been contained.” City workers began running street cleaners around 8 p.m.

After the incident, Capital Pride Alliance encouraged people to attend a block party on 15th And P Streets in Northwest D.C.

Video at the scene shows people were knocking over barricades to flee. It was not clear whether the sound of the barriers being knocked over had caused confusion that shots had been fired.