Gunshots at Antigua Carnival: Pepper spray used to suppress chaos

Antigua and Barbuda: The much-anticipated Antigua Carnival reported the incident of gun firing at the venue, leading to the eruption of panic and chaos among the gathering. The situation further intensified when the police used pepper spray to combat the rising chaos.

The witnesses stated that just twenty minutes before the celebration was meant to start, five to six rounds of gunshots rang out echoing across the venue.

“I stood there worried and concerned for my son, who went out enjoying the festivities nearby when the shots were just fired,” a witness stated.

While the situation was getting out of control, police officials insanely handled the crowd using pepper sprays, which instead of management led to more escalated chaos.

The police officials in response to the incident were questioned to which they stated, “We decided to implement crowd control methods as residents were running for their survival. It was getting out of control to which we needed to use Pepper Sprays”

This initiative by the authorities to cut off the panic inadvertently resulted to a more intense issue among residents, breathing problems.

Reportedly, the witnesses in response to the incident stated that “it was quite difficult to breathe, everyone was running in panic and then you smell peppers causing breathing problems and struggles to regain your heartbeat.”

Notably, the Antiguan Carnival has been considered a major success as stated by the minister Daryll Matthew, who was held responsible for the festival. During a recent press conference, she emphasized that, “It is without any fair contradiction that we had a very successful Carnival 2024.”

Mathew noted that the carnival this year has experienced an increase in numbers along with a increase in participation. Apart from this, the corporate involvement this year was worth noticing as it experienced significant increase.

Mathew in response to which stated that, “The growth of attendance, participation, and sponsorship is a testament to our achievements and underscores the growing popularity of the event among the residents.”

Notably, this year’s event stood out to be a special one for steel band winners, as it was first time since 2018 that a prize money was presented to the winners on stage.

The winner to the event received a prize money of $35000, whereas first and second runner up were able to fetch $30000 and $25000. However, the unplaced bands also received $20000 for their participation.