Loud Noise And Song With Gunshots Caused Barclays Center Panic After Future Concert, Says NYPD
May 20, 2017, 2:23 p.m.
Attendees fled the arena, apparently worried there was a shooter.
Future at Coachella this year
Concertgoers at Barclays Center were rattled when they thought they heard gunshots at the end of Future's show on Friday night. But the NYPD says it was actually a noise from the stage, plus a song that included gunshots in it, that prompted the panic.
According to the Daily News, "Future had just finished performing when a loud sound reverberated through the arena.The noise sparked pandemonium as people rushed down escalators and streamed out the exits of the Prospect Heights venue."
Deadass, turned around and saw 500 people sprinting from Barclays Center after we were outside...never ran so fast in my entire life..
— Danny - HT 🌊 (@HeavyTidesNY) May 20, 2017
Shooting at Future's #NobodySafeTour at the #barclayscenter pic.twitter.com/53skKDTaqt
— Bianca Torres (@bianca_inc) May 20, 2017
Gunshots heard around 10:30 at #BarclayCenter after #Future concert. Didn't take any pics. Totally booked it. #FutureShooting
— A_Izen (@IzenEars) May 20, 2017
@HeavyTidesNY @KCJ_Swish Everyone was trying to get out and then gun shots came out of no where and everyone started running
— Hunter Wienclaw (@hunterwienclaw) May 20, 2017
The Barclays Center tried to reassure concertgoers, tweeting, "There were no gunshots tonight inside the arena. A loud noise during load out caused concern while fans exited the venue. Get home safely."
NYPD Lieutenant Tarik Sheppard told Vibe, "“The concert ended around 11 p.m. As people were exiting the Barclays Center, there was music playing over the PA system. The song that was playing had the sound of gunshots at the end. In addition, the stage was lowered and it came down faster than normal causing a loud metal on metal crashing sound. These sounds coupled together startled some people and they began to exit quicker than normal. There was no stampede and no injuries due to anyone getting trampled. There were a couple of reported minor injuries where people sprained or twisted their ankles while they were trying to quickly exit.”
However, some people claim it was something else:
It was mace, we heard no shots out there. RT @NigelDPresents: We got to wait and see if shots were actually fired at the Barclays.
— Tina and Jeff's Boy (@CoryTownes) May 20, 2017
Future was pretty happy with the performance:
New York came wit heat. I'm thankful,much respect & more love
— FUTURE/FREEBANDZ (@1future) May 20, 2017
