High School

Fear of 'active shooter' prompts panic at Kentucky youth basketball event

Authorities responded to reports of an active shooter situation at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center Sunday afternoon during the "Run4Roses" youth event.ament.

Tarek Fattal

Authorities responded to reports of an active shooter situation at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center on Saturday afternoon during the "Run 4 Roses" youth basketball tournament.
Authorities responded to reports of an active shooter situation at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center on Saturday afternoon during the "Run 4 Roses" youth basketball tournament. / Jordyn Noennig / USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The backdrop for the 'Run4Roses' girls basketball event in Louisville, Ky. is supposed to be dribbling basketballs, squeaking shoes, yelling coaches, clapping parents, and a bevy of whistles sounding from officials.

It changed dramatically during this year's event when droves of players, coaches, parents and officials started scampering for the door at the Kentucky Expo Center due to fear of an active shooter at the tournament on Sunday, July 13.

Authorities responded to reports of an active shooter situation at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center on Sunday afternoon during the "Run4Roses" youth basketball tournament, according to reports from Channel2Now.

It was later confirmed no shots were fired and no injuries were reported.

“There was no active shooter, no shots fired, and no victims located," an official statement from the Louisville Metro Police said. "We understand the fear this caused, and we are working closely with event organizers to ensure safety moving forward.”

In the videos below via Instagram, you can see the widespread panic of those running for the door in hopes of safety. The event hosts more 9,000 players and has 88 basketball courts.

However, there was a fatal shooting that killed two in Lexington on the same day. Some believe while news spread about the Lexington shooting at the basketball event, the confusion may have created the panic at the Kentucky Expo Center.

Witnesses say fire alarms began sounding mid-day, followed by widespread panic throughout the venue. Spectators and participants began to flee as people shouted to 'run'.

The tournament suspended play for the rest of the Sunday, July 13 and continued competition on Monday.

MORE ABOUT RUN 4 ROSES

Run 4 Roses heralds itself as the biggest girls basketball exposure event in the world by boasting an arena with 88 courts under one roof, more than 2,000 college coaches registered to attend, 15 countries represented and a world record of 2,910 teams participating.

The event is sponsored by Jr. WNBA, Gatorade, The V Foundation and ESPN Next.

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Published
Tarek Fattal, SBLive Sports
TAREK FATTAL

Tarek Fattal has been covering high school sports since 2015 in Southern California and primarily in Los Angeles, covering notable athletes such as Bronny James, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Alyssa Thompson. He was with the LA Daily News for eight years, which included being the beat reporter for the UCLA men's basketball team. Tarek can be seen on TV regularly on CBS/KCAL as a sports analyst with Jim Hill.

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