A man was arrested for allegedly waving a BB gun during the Capital Pride Parade in Washington DC — sparking a stampede that left several people in the hospital, according to cops.
Aftabjit Singh, 38, was hauled away shirtless from Saturday night’s parade and faces a slew of charges including possession of a prohibited weapon and causing unreasonable fear.
He allegedly pulled the gun on someone hitting his partner, telling cops, “I’ll be back. I’ll shoot that motherf–er,” according to the police report.
Police say no shots were fired and later confirmed it was a BB gun — but it was still enough to spark an active-shooter scare, with several people hospitalized from injuries suffered in a mad stampede.
“We heard people say, ‘Get back, take cover, there’s an active shooter,’ but it was like a big game of telephone,” Dave Kolesar told the Washington Blade.
“As people were coming down, I did hear a few loud bangs, which were obviously the cause of additional panic, but they were probably just the sound of the temporary barriers getting knocked down.”
Delany Young told ABC7 that everyone assumed it was gun-fire, with many fleeing for cover in restaurants.
“It sounded semi-automatic and it was absolutely terrifying to the point that people were stacking bodies on top of each other and handing babies off for the sake of protecting them,” Young said.
Elizabeth Hernandez, 19, also heard “pop, pop” as barricades were tossed over. “Everything fell and everyone said ‘run!’” she said.
Pastor Emily Heath wrote on Twitter that “real trauma” occurred even without shots fired.
“LGBTQ people live in fear of something like this happening every day. To run because you think your life is in danger is traumatic,” Heath wrote.
Ashley Smith, the president of the event organizers, Capital Pride Alliance, remained defiant.
“We cannot allow this incident to ruin the pride celebration going on this weekend,” Smith said.
“We’re very focused on wanting to make sure we continue to have a great event for the rest of the weekend.”
