Heart-stopping footage captured the moment a loud noise, believed to be gunfire, ignited a chaotic stampede in Texas, forcing cheerleaders to abruptly flee the competition stage mid-performance.
The National Cheerleaders All-Star National Championship in Dallas descended into mass chaos this weekend, as athletes and spectators ran out of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center over fears of an active shooter.
A preliminary investigation has since determined that no gun was fired during the incident, according to the Dallas Police Department. The noise, police said, was instead the result of a fight between two parents.
‘A fight between two people led to multiple poles being knocked down, which caused a loud noise,’ the department wrote on a statement shared to X.
‘The noise contributed to panic inside the building, prompting people to rush outside in a stampede. There were multiple non-life-threatening injuries during the chaos. No shooting occurred.’
Yet the fear over a possible shooter sent thousands of teenage cheerleaders and their families running into the streets, seeking to find cover from the unknown.
‘It’s settled down, but it was traumatizing,’ Megan Boggs, a Houston mother who had an 11-year-old daughter competing, told the Houston Chronicle.
‘This is the Super Bowl of cheerleading,’ she added. ‘They work all year to do this, so it’s very unfortunate you had some parents who couldn’t control themselves.’
Heart-stopping footage captured the moment a loud noise, believed to be gunfire, forced cheerleaders to abruptly flee the stage mid-performance during their National Cheerleaders All-Star National Championship routine
The National Cheerleaders All-Star National Championship in Dallas, Texas, descended into mass chaos this weekend, as athletes and spectators ran out of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center over fears of an active shooter
A preliminary investigation has since determined that no gun was fired during the incident, according to the Dallas Police Department. The noise, police said, was instead the result of a fight between two parents
The frightening disturbance, which occurred during the NCA competition – an event expected to draw in around 58,000 people each year – quickly took an ‘extremely frightening’ turn on Saturday afternoon as athletes were mid-performance on stage.
In one heart-stopping video shared to social media, multiple athletes were seen performing on stage when an announcement telling the cheer team to ‘stop the routine’ drowned out the music, leaving the girls visibly caught off-guard.
After pausing for a brief moment, the team quickly rushed off the right hand of the stage.
Another harrowing video shared to social media showed several people rushing onto the stage in the midst of another cheer performance, immediately interrupting the routine as they urgently ushered the girls to leave.
The cheer team appeared to quickly obey the orders as they darted off the stage, an act followed by hundreds of spectators in the arena’s audience.
‘It was mass pandemonium,’ David Crawford, a parent, told Fox 4 News. ‘Everyone was running all directions.’
Police cars were seen hurrying to the scene as hundreds of people in sparkly cheer uniforms and terrified parents poured out of the convention center. Others were captured ducking under cars and trucks, fearfully seeking cover from the noise.
‘The moms were sitting there and all I know was we were just looking around and people were screaming – running, jumping off all the bleachers,’ Makayla Cossey, a mother in attendance, told CBS News.
One cheerleader, with her competition makeup done and a large bow in her ponytail, shared the heartbreaking moment she and her mother sought refuge in the bathroom where she was seen in tears, repeatedly telling her mother, ‘I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die’
Police cars were seen hurrying to the scene as hundreds of people in sparkly cheer uniforms and terrified parents poured out of the convention center. Others were captured ducking under cars and trucks, fearfully seeking cover from the noise
While describing the scene to the Houston Chronicle, a mother said: ‘You got around 30,000 people in a convention center, so everyone was running and screaming. Kids were everywhere and they were running’
One cheerleader, with her competition makeup done and a large bow in her ponytail, shared the heartbreaking moment she and her mother sought refuge in the bathroom while hundreds of people screamed and ran just beyond the doors.
In the video shared to TikTok, the young athlete was seen in tears as she repeatedly told her mother ‘I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die. I’m so scared.’
‘Listen to me, look at me,’ her mother could be heard saying as she attempted to calm her daughter down. ‘We are not going to die. We are not going to die.’
Autumn Holub, 14, was also in the bathroom when the news of a potential shooter began to rapidly spread.
‘I got pushed into a corner, I fell, my knees hurting, my hands are hurting,’ Holub told Fox 4 News. ‘I thought I was going to pass out. I had no clue what I was doing.’
Even after she reunited with her family, the sounds and sights of sheer panic surrounding her were just as frightening.
‘Crying, screaming, police officers everywhere,’ she added. ‘The sirens were terrifying.’
In the immediate wake of the confusion, the Dallas Police Department evacuated the arena as a precaution. They also posted a statement, informing the public that they were ‘investigating an incident near the Omni Hotel and Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center.
In the immediate wake of the confusion, the Dallas Police Department evacuated the arena as a precaution and announced an investigation into the area
The frightening disturbance occurred during the NCA competition – an event expected to draw in around 58,000 people each year
‘A family reunification center has been established at Dallas Police Headquarters, 1400 Botham Jean Blvd,’ they added.
Boggs was one attendee who helped frantic parents find their children after many went missing among the mass panic and stampede outside.
‘You got around 30,000 people in a convention center, so everyone was running and screaming. Kids were everywhere and they were running,’ she told Houston Chronicle.
The mother watched both athletes and spectators trample one another, take cover and even attempt to climb out of windows, she told the outlet. One woman, Boggs recalled, injured her leg while trying to flee.
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BREAKING NEWS Terrifying moment huge ‘fight between parents’ at cheerleading competition sparks mass stampede
‘Someone yells ‘shooter’ in today’s day and age and it becomes chaos,’ she added.
Destiny Hinton, a cheerleader, described the immediate aftermath as ‘terrifying,’ according to CBS News.
‘I tripped and then had people step on me and then I ran a mile past the Alamo Cinema – a mile past that – I hid in a dumpster,’ Hinton told the outlet.
Joyce Sterling, a cheer-mom, also described the chaotic scene, recalling her daughter descending in to an ‘all-out panic’ trying to find her family, CBS News reported.
‘It was just mayhem,’ Sterling said. ‘It was crazy.’
Dallas Fire-Rescue confirmed that 10 people were taken to the hospital following the incident.
‘All of the injuries were sustained during the evacuation, and non were life-threatening,’ Jason Evans, a spokesperson for the department, told CBS News. ‘They ranged in severity from bumps and bruises to extremity fractures.’
A mother told the Houston Chronicle that she had watched both athletes and spectators trample one another, take cover and even attempt to climb out of windows
Dallas Fire-Rescue confirmed that 10 people were taken to the hospital following the incident, all suffering from non-life-threatening injuries
Despite police confirming that there was no gunfire, many families were still full of fear and anxiety as they made sure to hold their children a little tighter. Others elected not to return to the event the following day
The annual cheerleading championship resumed on Sunday morning at 8am, with ‘athletes and our crowd in good spirits,’ Varsity Brands, who runs the competition, said in a statement
The annual cheerleading championship resumed on Sunday morning at 8am, with ‘athletes and our crowd in good spirits,’ Varsity Brands, who runs the competition, said in a statement, KHOU reported.
Despite police confirming that there was no gunfire, many families were still full of fear and anxiety as they made sure to hold their children a little tighter. Others elected not to return to the event the following day.
‘It’s what we see on the news every day, but to actually live it is horrifying in that brief moment, right?’ Crawford told Fox 4 News. ‘Until you hear your child’s safe, your daughter’s safe. You’re fearful.’
His daughter, Brynn Crawford, told the outlet that she was ‘relieved’ after reuniting with her father.
‘I was really excited, and I just ran to my dad to give him a really big hug,’ she told Fox 4 News. ‘I was just so excited.’
Though an investigation is still ongoing, police sources told WFAA that no arrests have been made in relation to the incident.