Fairfield police cancel Jennings Beach Carnival over public safety concerns

Fairfield police announced that the Jennings Beach Carnival has been canceled for Saturday and Sunday.

The department made the announcement on their Facebook page and cited public safety concerns during Friday night’s event.

According to police, officers were called in large numbers, with help from the Bridgeport Police Department, to manage “unusually large and disorderly crowds.” Police said the crowd was made up mostly of unsupervised juveniles.

Police said that throughout Friday evening, there were multiple incidents where attendees believed shots had been fired or that fights had broken out, which led to “panic, chaos, and crowd surges.”

Officers who were at the scene already looked into the reports and found no evidence that shots had been fired.

According to police, the size and movement of the crowds caused some families to be separated and required officers to reconnect parents with their children. Police said they also got numerous reports of fights and disturbances in different areas of the Jennings Beach grounds and parking lots.

Large groups also began running in multiple directions, including some into surrounding neighborhoods, police said. Crowds numbering in the hundreds also gathered at the Chick-fil-A and surrounding businesses, where other fights broke out, and people illegally congregated, needing more police and help from the Connecticut State Police.

Police said the decision to cancel the carnival was made in the interest of public safety and supported by the McKindley PTA, which sponsored the carnival.