Confusion engulfs Mississippi Street Fair amid report of violence

A stampede of festivalgoers moved through the Mississippi Street Fair on Saturday night after confused, panicked people traded information about an altercation that left one man bloodied, witnesses tell The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Tara Dublin, former mid-day host of KNRK-FM (94.7), was at the fair’s Beech Street Stage near StormBreaker Brewing on Mississippi Avenue around 7:45 p.m. when all of a sudden a flood of people moved toward StormBreaker’s beer garden, she said. “Everyone just started running,” she said.

A very heavy police presence descended on the street fair quickly, Dublin said, but as of Sunday morning the Portland Police Bureau has released no information about what led to the panic. No spokesperson for the bureau works on Sundays, and no one from the bureau has responded to a request for information on Sunday morning.

Dublin said she spoke with a security guard at the event and learned that a stabbing followed by at least one gunshot sparked the fear and confusion, although she said she did not hear a gunshot. A man with a stab wound snaked through the crowd, fleeing medical attention, she said. Police then cordoned off streets near the fair.

On stage was the Low Bar Chorale, a pop chorus for adults. “We were in the middle of singing at the Mississippi Street Fair when, halfway though (sic) our set, we had to shut down,” Ben Landsverk, the group’s director, and Jennie Baker posted to Facebook on Saturday. ”People ran toward the stage and then past us — there were reports of an active shooter at the event. No one at our stage was injured, luckily, but we’re still in shock.”

Landsverk and Baker said the commotion happened near the stage closer to 8:05 p.m., not 7:45 p.m. Two other people near the street fair who did not want their names published separately said they heard at least 10 gunshots around 8:15 p.m., and it wasn’t clear if those were connected to the earlier incident.

The all-day festival was supposed to run until 10 p.m., but many vendors and attendees left early, Dublin said.

Carey Deza, treasurer of the Historic Mississippi Business Association that operates the fair, said Sunday she had no information about the incident.

“The whole rest of the day was great,” Deza said.

— Beth Slovic; bslovic@oregonian.com; 503-221-8551

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