Reports of people running on the grounds sparked fears of a shooting at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo on Saturday. The event is held at the NRG Stadium, in Houston, Texas. The rodeo began on March 2 and ends on March 22.
The co-founder of a Houston grass roots organization dedicated to the empowerment of black people & protection of black women wrote on X “SHOOTING?! at the rodeo?!”.
Another added “Wow they shooting at the rodeo.”
Yet another person remarked on Facebook “Welp we leaving the Rodeo Carnival. Damn kids fighting & shooting. They done closed all the rides.”
One person noted there was some disturbance at the rodeo but could not be sure if it was from a shooting. “Shooting, stabbing, whatever it was that happened…”, they said on X.
Grizzy’s Hood News, a local outlet, reported “Reports of people running at the rodeo grounds that caused panic and what looked like a stampede. The panic appears to have started after people began running, which caused others to run as well. No conformation of any actual shooting.”
The Houston Police Department is yet to comment on the matter. There are no reports of injuries yet. HT.com has reached out to the Houston Police Department for comment.
People describe scenes of panic at Houston rodeo
One person claiming to be at the scene described the panic that unfurled.
“This just happen. I was standing in line next to the fun house at the Houston Rodeo. My youngest son was inside the fun house, and my other son was waiting in a different line nearby. Out of nowhere I see a massive crowd running straight toward us — people screaming, pushing, running like someone had just started shooting or tried to blow the place up. The second I saw that crowd coming, I didn’t hesitate. My instincts kicked in. I took off running straight for the fun house. I was jumping over obstacles, pushing through people, shoving past anything in my way while calling my other son on the phone telling him, ‘Take cover. Hide. Don’t move’,” they wrote on Facebook.
“I ran all the way to the top of the fun house, grabbed my youngest, picked him up, and started hauling ass back down through the chaos trying to get to my other son. My heart dropped into my stomach. I have never felt fear like that in my life. In that moment nothing else mattered. No crowd, no danger, nothing. The only thing on my mind was getting my boys and getting them out of there. It felt like my life was on repeat — like some terrible déjà vu playing out again — but I wasn’t going to let anything happen to my kids. Not today. Not ever. I grabbed them both and we got out of there. If you’re in large crowds, stay alert and stay safe. This happened tonight at the Houston Rodeo,” the post further detailed.
Another person on X commented “We were freaking out on our phones while traveling back from the Houston rodeo – I don’t think I could handle the stress in person.”
