This weekend, there was a shooting scare as Lil Wayne performed for one of the first times since releasing Tha Carter V. The annual Atlanta gathering was historic in many other ways with appearances by the Wu-Tang Clan and over 500 performances throughout the week. What happened during the final show of the festivities seemed to overshadow the rest of the event. For good reason too as many were afraid there had been a shooting at the festival. Less than ten minutes had passed before audience members started rushing to leave the premises, yelling "shots fired." Footage has been shared online of Wayne being ushered away but A3C had yet to comment on the incident. The organizers sent an e-mail to their subscribers, explaining exactly what went down.
The statement begins by noting how important Lil Wayne's performance was going to be for Atlanta, the festival and Weezy himself. "Unfortunately, less than 10 minutes into Lil Wayne’s set two individuals started to fight each other," writes Mike Walbert, director of the festival. He continues, "Several people in the crowd attempted to break up the fight, including a Georgia state trooper who was on-duty providing security. In trying to break up the fight, we understand that the trooper withdrew his Taser, which reportedly omitted a red light. The Taser was not used, but upon seeing the Taser, several members of the crowd yelled “gun,” which caused a panic in the crowd and people started rushing away. Unable to tell exactly what was going on, many people assumed the worst and there became a rapid dash to clear the grounds."
Walbert says that this year was the best edition of A3C yet and despite the way things ended, he's ecstatic at how successful the entire event was. Check out our rundown of the festival here.