The weapon that sparked panic at the Capital Pride Parade in DuPont Circle on Saturday turned out to be a BB gun, D.C. police said.
Aftabjit Singh, 38, “told police he drew the replica gun during an exchange between his significant other and an unidentified person,” according to Fox 5.
Singh’s action caused rumors of an active shooter to spread like wildfire on social media, sparking mass panic in the streets that resulted in at least seven people being injured.
Video of people fleeing the scene shows that people were knocking over barriers that prevented parade attendees from going onto the sidewalk. People on social media theorized that the sound of the barriers falling was mistaken for gunshots.
#DCPride #CapitalPride #shooting Marching in the Gay Pride parade in Washington DC. As my girlfriend and I were walking past Dupont Circle, apparently someone started shooting. I did not hear the shots, but caught the moment of the stampede. People went quickly from smiling, pic.twitter.com/oPQdIrM3dG
— Me (@beingaiden) June 9, 2019
Police and other city officials stressed there were no shots fired during the incident and there was never a threat to the public.
“In all my years I have never seen this level of panic for something that didn’t occur,” a police officer told the Washington Examiner on Saturday.
.@DCPoliceDept says officers found a gun inside Dupont Circle near this man. He is under arrest and will face a gun possession charge. They don’t believe he actually fired it. Their theory is the loud bangs were barricades crashing as the crowd ran away. pic.twitter.com/N6RFeQ4DDL
— Tom Roussey (@tomrousseyABC7) June 9, 2019
Bill Doyle, 52, who has lived in DuPont Circle for two decades, had been concerned about the safety of the event earlier in the day because of the way the barriers were set up to block off the roads, leaving parade attendees largely corralled in certain areas.
Doyle called the non-emergency 311 line at 6 p.m., a hour-and-a-half before the altercation in the roundabout, expressing his concerns that the barriers were overly restrictive.
“On my way out of the area, I also warned two police officers that I thought the barricades were unsafe,” Doyle said.
Singh has been charged with possession of a prohibited weapon, disorderly conduct, and other charges.
