Chaos broke out at the annual Spring Fest in Southaven, leading to its premature shutdown on Saturday after a brawl involving teens and young adults stirred panic among hundreds in attendance. The ruckus drew a staunch police response and resulted in two people arrested for disorderly conduct, with rumors of gunfire that were later dismissed due to lack of evidence or reported injuries, Action News 5 revealed.

The incident left parents distressed, some of whom had deliberately timed their visits to avoid the evening crowds. Stephanie Montgomery, attending the festival with her children earlier in the day, mentioned to Action News 5, "I purposely went earlier that day to beat the heavy crowd." Meanwhile, others expressed reservations over security measures at the event, advocating for tighter screening processes in reaction to the brawl.

In a related but more harrowing episode reported by WREG, an 8-year-old boy was trampled and rushed to the hospital with a broken arm and facial bruises. His mother, Tyneshia West, stayed at her son's bedside, recounting, "He's still in pain but he's doing a whole lot better." Amid the aftermath, Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite issued a statement, attributing the cause of the violence to unsupervised juveniles and a breakdown in parental authority, without offering refunds for the event but promising that tickets would retain their value for future events.

A similar situation unfolded at the Lake in the Hills spring carnival where the fun was cut short after fights broke out, according to parents speaking to NBC Chicago. One parent, identified as Monique, described excessive crowds and feeling frightened for her kids. As officials moved to shut down the carnival early for safety reasons, confronting challenges on how to ensure public security at such events has become a pressing issue.