The town of Knightdale in North Carolina had been looking forward to hosting the 2022 Special Olympics Spring Carnival. Sadly, after just one night of the celebrations, Knightdale officials had to call off the carnival.
Special Olympics is a global organization, serving intellectually differently ables athletes. Established in 1968, the annual Special Olympics have been going on and growing in scale every year.
However, this year, Knightdale officials had to cancel the event owing to a shocking development in the vicinity of the venue.
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Crews dismantle Special Olympics Spring Carnival after horrific development
The town of Knightdale saw a horrific incident near the venue of the Special Olympics Spring Carnival. Around 9’o’clock at night, the police reported shots fired outside the carnival venue.
After that, Knightdale officials decided to cancel the event. As a result, the last night of the Spring Carnival of the Special Olympics did not go forward.
A shooting at a Special Olympics spring carnival in Knightdale has prompted authorities to cancel the last day of the event. Police in Knightdale say gunfire broke out about 9 p.m. https://t.co/YpcEkDN91l
— ABC11 EyewitnessNews (@ABC11_WTVD) April 3, 2022
Thus, crews began dismantling the rides and taking down the other attractions at the carnival. Chief Lawrence Capps of the Knightdale PD released a statement saying “it reeks of lawlessness and a blatant disregard of others’ lives”.
The incident began when a quarrel turned into a big fight between carnival-goers. Even though police tried their best to break up the fight and de-escalate the situation, they heard several shots in a nearby parking lot.
Consequently, pandemonium broke out as carnival attendees began to escape to their cars or look for cover. Sadly, in the shooting, a 16-year-old teenager had a bullet graze them. WakeMed hospital in Raleigh treated the teenager for minor injuries.
The aftermath of the incident
Due to the shooting near the carnival site, at least two vehicles were hit by gunfire, as well as a 16-year-old teenager who incurred minor injuries.
Chief of Police Lawrence Capps stated how “words cannot begin to describe the anger we feel”. He called the incident a “senseless act of violence”.
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Good evening, #knightdale. Please see the message below from our town manager, Bill Summers, regarding the incident that occurred this past weekend in our community.#KnightdaleKneighbors pic.twitter.com/FXpQOaKbJZ
— Knightdale, NC (@KdaleNC) April 4, 2022
He expressed how the “annual Special Olympics should be a time of fun and celebration for a worthy cause. Instead, a small group of deviants choose to endanger the lives of hundreds of people with their malicious actions”.
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Lastly, he mentioned how it was miraculous that there were no casualties or serious injuries.
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