Videos show hundreds of spring breakers in Florida in a chaotic scene of mass panic sparked by what they thought was gunfire. It wasn’t.
The large crowd gathered at Daytona Beach quickly dispersed as spring breakers ran for safety. People crushing water bottles, which produced a popping sound, reportedly triggered a chain reaction among panicked beachgoers.
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood reported that 50 deputies were already in the area when the stampede occurred. They reportedly acted swiftly to assess the situation and reestablish order. They found no evidence of gunfire at the location where the panic started.
“This incident was, clearly, social media-driven. ‘Let’s all go and invade Daytona.’ And there isn’t a whole lot more we can do other than what we did,” Chitwood said about the unsanctioned spring break gathering.
The mayor of Daytona Beach is already mad at the spring breakers
Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry wrote in a Facebook post, “This weekend many of us were deeply disturbed by the youth invasion event that took place in Daytona Beach. What happened was unacceptable and it disrupted the safety and peace that our residents, businesses, and visitors deserve.
To better prepare for and respond to activities that aim to overload or disturb the community, he added, the city’s staff is already closely collaborating with law enforcement partners to assess what happened and identify what new resources, tools, and strategies they may require.
“It has been stated that it was requested by the sheriff that the area be designated as a special event district as a result of the planned takeover,” the mayor continued. “I was not informed of any request to designate the area as a special district and would have been first in line to support the request.”
There were several shootings in Daytona Beach, just none at this location
Law enforcement made over 80 arrests over the weekend, many of which involved alcohol infractions and disorderly behavior. Officers seized weapons in six incidents, but they did not make any firearms arrests on the beach.
On the plus side, at least for law enforcement, Chitwood said all of the spring breakers law enforcement took into custody over the weekend were “absolutely polite and understood why officers were arresting them.”
On the negative side, the Daytona Beach Police are investigating multiple shootings that happened on Saturday. None of those shootings were related to the chaos seen at the beach, however. According to Fox News, authorities expect all of the victims in the weekend shootings to survive.