Panic ensued when a barrier fell at Global Citizen Festival in New York City’s Central Park Saturday night (Sept. 29). According to various reports, concertgoers seemed to mistake the loud sound for gunshots, though the NYPD confirmed that no shots were fired at the festival.
Coldplay‘s Chris Martin, as well as a police officer, took to the stage to speak to the crowd and calm them down.
“There’s no need to panic,” Martin said. “There’s no need to run fast. There’s no need to push people out of the way.”
“Nobody is trying to hurt anybody. You’re all safe,” the singer added.
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No injuries have been reported.
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A clip on NBC New York and one from MSNBC, seen below, show footage from the concert during the confusion.
Many at the festival, which featured an all-star lineup including Janet Jackson, the Weeknd, Cardi B, John Legend and more, described the experience on social media.
“One of the most terrifying moments of my entire life at the Global Citizen Festival,” one Twitter user wrote. “A barrier fell causing a sound like a gunshot and the crowd started running in panic. Never seen herd mentality like that before. Disgraceful that we all have to live in constant fear of guns.”
Another said, “Just sprinted out of global citizen festival thinking it was for my life…thank god there were no shots fired, just a fence that fell.”
There were NO SHOTS FIRED at #GlobalCitizenFestival. The sound was a fallen barrier. @NYPDCentralPark @GlblCtzn
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) September 29, 2018
One of the most terrifying moments of my entire life at the Global Citizen Festival. A barrier fell causing a sound like a gunshot and the crowd started running in panic. Never seen herd mentality like that before. Disgraceful that we all have to live in constant fear of guns.
— Divya Nair (@dnair91) September 30, 2018
Just sprinted out of global citizen festival thinking it was for my life…thank god there were no shots fired, just a fence that fell.
— dani (@daniraskin_) September 29, 2018
#BreakingNews Everyone is OK after a barrier fell at the Global Citizen Festival and made an alarming noise. The crowd panicked and started running towards safety. There is NO threat and nothing serious happened. The event is back underway. #GlobalCitizen https://t.co/NwCfoS2V79
— Jackson Rogotzke (@JRogotzke) September 30, 2018