HARRISBURG, Pa. — The City of Harrisburg continues to look into incident that led to the abrupt end of the Fourth of July Celebration on Thursday night.
“We had a beautiful, family holiday event yesterday, and it was ruined," said Mayor Wanda Williams.
Mayor Williams expressed her frustration at the podium on Friday over how the night ended. The event was cancelled minutes into the fireworks show, after police discovered two juveniles and an adult with guns at Riverfront Park. During the incident, one person collided into Mayor Williams and injured her leg.
It’s the second time in three years that the Fourth of July show was marred by safety concerns.
“This is not the Harrisburg I grew up in, and I am tired of watching this happen," said Mayor Williams.
Two people remain in police custody, while one was later released by the police.
Harrisburg Police recovered two guns from the scene. One was a handgun that was capable of becoming fully automatic with a 24-round magazine. The second gun was BB gun.
A third gun is still missing after one of the suspects threw it over the Walnut Street Bridge into the Susquehanna River. A dive team is currently looking through the water to find it.
Harrisburg Police Commissioner Thomas Carter credits his officers for preventing a worse situation.
“Instead of doing nothing, they hopped into action and were able to apprehend a couple people who were there to cause problems," said Commissioner Carter.
Commissioner Carter said additional security measures will be taken if Harrisburg hosts a Fourth of July fireworks show next year.
Despite the security concerns last night, city officials are encouraging people to continue coming to Harrisburg.
“Harrisburg is a safe city," said Mayor Williams. "If I didn’t honestly believe that, I wouldn’t have been down there, myself, last night.”