Last night (May 28), Gervona Davis defeated Isaac Cruz in a 12-round fight, keeping his lightweight title. The event took place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, and while the match was the main attraction, something else grabbed the crowd’s attention.
Rumors began to erupt that there was an active shooter near the arena. Although the allegations were proven to be false– the audience did not know it at that moment, and once word began to travel, the screams started. Those in the crowd yelled that someone was firing a weapon, and it resulted in a stampede.
Of those in attendance at the fight was Naomi Osaka, professional tennis player. She took to Twitter to detail her experience, writing, “I was just in the Barclays center and suddenly I heard shouting and saw people running, then we were being yelled at that there was an active shooter and we had to huddle in a room and close the doors, I was so fucking petrified man.”
Following up with her post, she added, “I really hope everyone made it out safely, since I’m tweeting this we made it out ok.”
It has not been said how the hearsay began, but the rumor, as stated by a security guard, was that someone was firing shots outside the arena. This led to those leaving coming back inside, causing pure mayhem.
Mike Coppinger, an ESPN boxing insider, stated, “A Barclays Center security supervisor told ESPN there was a person with a gun in the main plaza that led to a stampede back into the arena. Multiple people transported to hospital. Official estimated approximately a dozen injuries. Among them: a concussion and an elbow injury.”
Look at the footage of the frightening incident below.