Three injured in shooting at a park in California
DAVIS, Calif. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - Three people were injured in a shooting in Davis on Saturday afternoon, according to police.
It happened as thousands attended the 111th Annual University of California (UC) Davis Picnic Day.
"There were a lot of people there and everybody seemed like they were having a good time," said a witness.
A day of fun quickly turned into fear as gunshots rang out in Community Park at a large gathering in Davis on Picnic Day.
"We thought it was fireworks at first. We didn't know but we saw everyone running so, obviously, our instinct was like we have to run because like we don't want to get shot," said another witness.
"We kinda book it. You know, everybody is running. We're booking it and I'm honestly scared because this is my first time feeling fear seeing everybody running and running with everybody," said another witness.
The Davis Police Department (DPD) say three people were shot. Two of them were teenagers while the other one was a 24 year old. Police say they have non-life-threatening injuries.
"This is really an uncommon event for us. This particular situation, in my 18 years, we never had anything like this," said Lt. Dan Beckwith with DPD.
The shooting happened on Picnic Day, a long-standing tradition and annual celebration for UC Davis which brings thousands to the city.
"There's large gatherings all over the city, that's very common for today. It's just part of the culture of the event," Lt. Beckwith shared.
UC Davis said they were saddened to hear news of the shooting. They said in part, "The incident occurred as thousands of people were enjoying the university's annual student-led Picnic Day on campus...is even more disheartening."
"It's just crazy that everybody is having a good time and it just happened so fast, like we're having fun one second the next everybody is running. It's just like fear," said another witness.
