Rumored Gunshots Cause 4th of July Stampede

A night of fun quickly turned to one of terror for hundreds of Philadelphians celebrating the Fourth of July holiday.

A frenzied crowd ran down the Ben Franklin Parkway during the fireworks show on Monday after hearing loud popping noises that several people believed to be gunshots.

Police spokesman Lt. Ray Evers said that police received calls for shots fired on the parkway just before 11 p.m., according to the Daily News.

The Daily News also reports that police didn’t find any evidence that a shooting occurred however. There were also reports that kids were throwing firecrackers into different crowds and yelling out "gunshots!" Its unconfirmed if that's what caused Monday night's incident however.

Regardless of whether or not a shooting actually happened, whatever the crowd heard was enough to cause a chaotic stampede down the parkway.

One man told the Daily News that his wife injured her ankle while trying to help someone up who fell during the massive rush.

The incident was captured and posted on youtube. You can view it in the embedded video above and judge for yourself whether the frightened crowd was running from an actual threat.

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