{"id":1987,"date":"2026-06-23T09:05:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T09:05:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=1987"},"modified":"2026-06-23T09:05:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T09:05:53","slug":"child-found-bullets-at-finlay-park-prior-to-teen-fights-festival-cancellation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=1987","title":{"rendered":"Child found bullets at Finlay Park prior to teen fights, festival cancellation"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>A child found live ammunition for a 9mm handgun at the Finlay Park playground Saturday evening, shortly before police evacuated the park and ended the Juneteenth festival being held there, according to police.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=1985\">How it happened: Argentina secures spot in knockout stage with Messi masterclass<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The 10th annual Juneteenth Freedom Fest had been going \u201cperfectly smoothly all day,\u201d when a series of incidents police believe could be related started to unfold Saturday night after 7 p.m., before the festival\u2019s last scheduled concert of the night.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The events ended with multiple minors being detained after police broke up numerous fights amongst them that broke out across the park around 7:30 p.m. Columbia City Manager Teresa Wilson is calling it a teen takeover, a trend where teens plan large gatherings at public spaces, and which in some cases across the country have led to violence and vandalism.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Just before the ammunition was reported Saturday, police were also called about people being seen throwing bags into the park and jumping over the security fence, said Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook at a media briefing Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The combination of incidents ultimately led the police and festival organizers to end the event early.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmmunition obviously is not something you\u2019re carrying in your pocket like loose change, it\u2019s intentional, and it\u2019s usually in the company of a weapon,\u201d Holbrook said.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Police did not find a weapon and there were no serious injuries reported Saturday.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Leaders stressed that there had been no issues at the Juneteenth festival prior to the evening\u2019s \u201cdisturbances\u201d and fights, and that the incidents shouldn\u2019t blemish the festival.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>This year was the festival\u2019s largest, bringing thousands of people to Finlay Park, as well as small businesses, artisans, and performers.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will not allow the actions of a few people to define the thousands who came in peace, celebrated responsibly, and represented our community well,\u201d said Jamal Bradley, founder and CEO of the annual Juneteenth festival, in a statement Monday.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=1983\">Stumbo, Goldfinch travel SC in final days of runoff for state attorney general<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<h2>Ongoing investigation<\/h2>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Police are still reviewing security footage from Saturday to identify people involved, and have so far identified 12 to 15 juvenile \u201caggressors\u201d who led the fights and disturbances Saturday, and more who stood nearby and watched or filmed the incidents, Holbrook said Monday.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Three minors and one adult were arrested Saturday night. Holbrook said the minors were released to their parents. One adult was \u201cfield booked\u201d and released after police found  five ounces of marijuana in his bag, because the arrest took place around the time the \u201cdisturbances\u201d picked up, Holbrook said.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>By the height of the night\u2019s issues, 45 total police officers had been deployed to the park, many called in from other regions. Six of the officers were with the University of South Carolina Police Department.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>When asked why shut down the event rather than arrest or remove those responsible and continue the concert, Holbrook said it was a clear decision given the number of people involved. Police had also found ammunition but no gun, increasing concerns.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan you imagine if we would not have taken decisive, appropriate measures if somebody would have pulled a gun and fired into a crowd of 7,000, 8,000 people, could have been disastrous,\u201d Holbrook said.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>He added that it takes at least two officers to make a physical arrest, and with the number of people involved it could have become too much to manage.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Wilson said teen takeover events won\u2019t be permitted at Columbia parks, but especially not at Finlay Park, which she said also functions as a concert venue since its $25 million facelift. The city has since instituted a permanent, daily policy banning unaccompanied minors at the park after 5 p.m. The park is open until 9 p.m. daily.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe amount of investment\u2026 that went into standing this park up, there\u2019s no way it\u2019s going to be threatened by foolishness and wrong behaviors,\u201d Wilson said.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=1982\">Elena Moore\u2019s autopsy results have been released. Here\u2019s what we know<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A child found ammunition at Columbia SC\u2019s Finlay Park playground before multiple teen fights led police to end Columbia&#39;s Juneteenth festival; no injuries<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Child found bullets at Finlay Park prior to teen fights, festival cancellation - US Moving Experts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=1987\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Child found bullets at Finlay Park prior to teen fights, festival cancellation - 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