Pittsburghers celebrate Fourth of July with music, food and fireworks
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Hundreds of thousands of people descended on Downtown Pittsburgh for the city's Fourth of July celebrations.
The festivities got underway around 4 p.m. and wrapped up with a major fireworks display at 10 p.m.
Pittsburgh police, EMS, and fire were present during the festivities, and the city also brought on a private security firm to handle the crowds.
Pittsburgh Public Works trucks blocked areas where the crowds gathered, and security officials checked bags.
"You can feel the police presence down here right now," Mayor Ed Gainey said. "They are doing exactly what we asked them to do."
Gainey addressed the crowd and thanked them for coming to the celebration.
"I want to thank you for coming Downtown," he said. "I want to thank you for bringing your families, for having a good time. I want to thank you for celebrating Independence Day."
There were several items people could not bring into Point State Park, including fireworks, alcohol, drones, pop-up tents and weapons. Earlier Tuesday, Director of Public Safety Lee Schmidt said people should not be concerned about their safety.
"We have a strong police presence throughout the city and Downtown," he said. "Some are visible, some are not."
However, there was a brief period of confusion and panic near the end of the fireworks show, as people started running from the park.
"We were watching the fireworks and everything was fine and then all of the sudden a gap opened and everybody started running," one person said. "So we don't know what happened, but some people were saying gunshots and we are going with that answer and leaving."
A source with Pittsburgh police said no shots were fired or shootings were confirmed, but the source said some people were hurt running from the park. A source said witnesses told police someone may have thrown a firecracker into the crowd.
