An active shooter scare derailed a ‘March for Our Lives’ gathering on the National Mall Saturday afternoon.
U.S. Park Police officers responded to the calls of a potential active shooter and moments later took a man into custody.
At 1:38 p.m., march-goers began running as the main-stage speaker at the time, Erica Ford, with the group New York City Crisis Management System, began yelling: “Do not run! Freeze! Do not run!”
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“There is no issue here! Do not run!” the speaker continued.
Shortly after the scare, a man was taken into custody. “False alarm,” a U.S. Park Police officer told The Daily Beast.
A witness, Jose Marroquin, and his family told The Daily Beast they began running after the crowd, thought there was an active shooter.
“People just dropped [to the ground],” he said of attendees in the front of the crowd nearest to the stage. “Someone yelled gun.”
Another two witnesses, Jake and Virgil — who gave witness statements to the US Park Police — told The Daily Beast there was a man down in front of the crowd, during the moment of silence, who attendees thought yelled: “I have a gun!”
Following the incident, the two witnesses believe the man potentially yelled: “I am God!”
Organizers of the gun violence prevention rally claim that 40,000 attendees showed up to Saturday’s event, all while rain hit the nation’s capital.
