The second day of a Juneteenth celebration in Asheville, N.C., was canceled after two kids were wounded in a shooting at the end of the first day.
The opening day’s festivities were almost complete when gunshots rang out just before 9 p.m. Saturday, organizers and police leaders said.
Cops on the scene identified two victims, both under age 18. One had been released from the hospital by Sunday afternoon, while another remained hospitalized in critical but stable condition, according to a police Facebook post.
A 16-year-old suspect was arrested in connection with the shooting. A second suspect was initially detained at the scene but later released, cops said.
“We canceled because we knew it was an active crime scene,” organizer Joseph Fox told the Asheville Citizen Times. “We needed to communicate to everybody involved — vendors, entertainers, people coming in from out of town — that we didn’t know how long it was going to be an active crime scene. We did it for them, and for public safety reasons.”
Investigators believe the shooting resulted from an argument between juveniles that spiraled out of control and resulted in someone pulling a gun, Asheville police officer Joe Silberman told local ABC affiliate WLOS. Cops recovered a 9 mm. pistol at the scene.
The 16-year-old suspect was charged with two counts of felonious assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury.
“We are saddened that a day of celebration and community unity was [darkened] by a cloud of violence,” said Dr. Oralene A.G. Simmons, President of The Martin Luther King, Jr., Association of Asheville & Buncombe County, which organized the celebration. “We pray for the healthy recovery of the victims, for justice to prevail, and that all community members be safe and at peace.”