Shots fired near Columbus Civic Center following Spring Fling

Days after shots were fired at a nearby Veterans Parkway gas station, officials with the Columbus Civic Center and Spring Fling say they’ve taken steps to ensure their events are safe.

“We want to keep this a family event,” Civic Center director Ross Horner said. “That’s one of the reasons to shut it down at 10 p.m. We’ve been closing the carnival grounds earlier for the last couple years to ensure that we keep it to be a family event.”

Saturday night the Spring Fling drew nearly 1,400 people, Horner said, and it was shortly after closing time when shots were heard, causing the crowd to panic when it wasn’t clear where the shooting happened.

Columbus police said there there were no reported injuries.

Many of the attendees already had left the property, Horner said, but the Columbus Lions also were playing an arena football game at the time.

Horner said the center had 11 off-duty Columbus police officers and approximately five trained security officers on carnival grounds during the event, which was well within its convention to have at least one security guard or police officer per 100 patrons.

“Part of our protocol was to ensure that those patrons (in the arena) didn’t exit the building during that time until we figured out what was going on,” the director said. “Of course, we communicated very closely and made sure what was going on the grounds first with the patrons, and make sure that it was secure. Then very quickly we moved people out of the arena once the football game was done.”

Horner said the center is reviewing its protocol to ensure that they are able to handle hostile situations.

“We’re, as I said, a large complex and it’s hard to control 90 acres after an event has taken place,” the director said. “We’re reviewing that to see how we can work with police to get people home after the event safely.”

Police arrested 19-year-old Stephon James Mcewen of Phenix City, a man who they said matched the gunman’s description, near the 400 block of Fourth Street. He resisted officers attempting to take him into custody for questioning, according to an arrest report.

Police said they were apprehending Mcewen around 10:31 p.m. Saturday when they found a stolen semi-automatic handgun valued at $500 in his possession.

Booked into the Muscogee County Jail, Mcewen faces one count each of possession and carrying a concealed weapon without a license, theft by receiving stolen property in another state and obstruction of an officer. Officials have yet to clarify whether they identified him as the shooter.

While Horner described Saturday’s shooting as an isolated incident, he did recall the fight last year that broke out at the same event. Authorities identified one of the suspects as a man dressed as cartoon character Spongebob Squarepants.

The Spring Fling opens at 5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m. Saturday and noon Sunday at the Columbus Civic Center at 400 Fourth St. There is no charge for admission.

This story was originally published April 11, 2016 at 4:03 PM with the headline "Shots fired near Columbus Civic Center following Spring Fling."