INDIANAPOLIS — At least one person was shot Saturday night at the Marion County Fair after reports the fair closed down due to capacity limits. Marion County Fairgrounds cited the closure as “unforeseen circumstances.”
Witnesses on the scene say the incident occurred after the Fair reached capacity and began to turn people away at the gate. Fair-goers reportedly became upset and rushed the gate, following fights to break out with at least one person shot on the scene.
Most of those fair-goers were reportedly children.
I was at the Marion County Fair to make a gallery for @indystar. Walking around, I noticed most people not wearing a mask and walking shoulder to shoulder around vendors. The fair was evacuated early around 8:30 pm. pic.twitter.com/YD34P62rwj
— Grace Alivia Hollars (@GraceHollars) July 19, 2020
Officers were called to the Marion County Fairgrounds around 8:30 p.m. to responding to the shooting. Police found that person on the scene shot inside the fairgrounds and was transported to a local hospital. No additional information about the identity of the person shot or the circumstances leading up to the shooting was immediately available.
The Marion County Fair is one of several Indiana fairs still operating during the COVID-19 pandemic. It began on July 11th and was set to end Sunday. Multiple units were dispatched Saturday night to the fairgrounds in an effort to regain control at the scene.
This week it was announced two major festivals in Kankakee County, the Manteno Oktoberfest and Bourbonnais Friendship Festival would both be canceled due to the ongoing pandemic. Those events were set to take place later this fall.
