MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. — Shots were fired near a carnival in Maryland Heights Saturday night. No one was physically injured and four people were arrested.
A spokesperson for Maryland Heights Police said officers from their department and other local departments were helping close the Holy Spirit Carnival early after large crowds and multiple fights.
Shots were fired in the area of Parkwood Park, and officers quickly arrested four people. No one was struck by gunfire.
The nature of the shooting, the identities and ages of those arrested, and other details were not immediately released.
Reverend Bob Evans of Holy Spirit Parish addressed the incident at mass on Sunday.
"I'm still in shock by it, about everything that happened last night, but I am just grateful that all are safe," he said.
Evans said he was approached by law enforcement with safety concerns and agreed to shut down the carnival. He said he was glad that no one was injured.
"Keeping people safe, whenever we get together, that's my number one concern. It's a lot easier to keep people safe when we come together for church and when we have school, we have protocols involved to keep people safe, but when you have a large crowd that people come from all over, how do you keep people safe?" he said.
Moving forward Evans said future carnivals will be discussed.
"There'll be a lot of questions asked and answered in the coming weeks about what will the carnival look like in the future," he said.
Paul Berry III was one of the many at the carnival Saturday night. He said as someone who grew up in Maryland Heights, the event is always like a "homecoming."
"I grew up, literally down the street from here, and moved back here because the schools and the community and it's always been a safe place for myself and what happened last night was very unfortunate, but it is really where times are going," he said.
Berry believes a lot more change needs to happen to solve the root of the problem. He said we need to figure out who is giving children guns, as well as, making sure parents are able to parent and keeping children busy and active.
"You're not going to get rid of guns, and both sides are landlocked on it. They're not going to do anything. You got to look at your elected officials and demand more. I would love to see our elected officials, especially Governor Parson who only has a few months left, take one last look at St. Louis and see what we can do here for crime, for safety," he said.
Berry is hopeful the carnival will happen next year.
"I think that what we have to learn from this, and there's many people talking about not having it next year. I'm in support for this community to have it, because we're going to prove that we can do something safe and come check on us in one year and see what happens," he said.