Fireworks recklessly shot off by revelers in Minneapolis on July 4th

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - It was another chaotic year for the Fourth of July in Minneapolis this year, with videos posted to social meeting showing people recklessly shooting off fireworks. 

The Stone Arch Bridge was closed overnight in an effort to restrict access to the pedestrian bridge (it reopened at 6 a.m.) with the hope of avoiding a repeat of what happened last year on July 4th. But that's exactly what happened – just not on the Stone Arch Bridge.

Revelers with an arsenal of fireworks moved to other parts of Minneapolis, with hundreds of people gathering near Bde Maka Ska. There, many could be seen setting off fireworks and firing projectiles at Minneapolis Police squad cars. 

The Minnesota State Patrol helicopter was even brought in with its bright light to help police try to disperse the crowds.

Wednesday morning, garbage cans around Bde Maka Ska were overflowing with spent fireworks and a crew of people was cleaning up after the chaos. In a statement, Minneapolis Park Police said they dealt with a number of issues overnight, including:

• Boom Island Park Area: Around 11:30 p.m., Police reported a group of 40 to 50 teens and young adults lighting fireworks from the Plymouth Avenue Bridge and targeting people and police. A 17-year-old boy was arrested for assault for launching mortars at a Park Police squad.
• Bde Maka Ska: Around 12:30 a.m., a large group of teens was rioting and lighting off fireworks at police and members of the public. A 20-year-old man was cited for being in a closed park.
• Boom Island Park: Around 12:42 a.m., a driver shot fireworks at a Park Police squad before driving away.
• Columbia Park picnic area: At 1:35 a.m., officers responded to a shooting during a gathering of people in the park. Officers found a 19-year-old man who had been shot in the back while inside a vehicle. He was rushed to Hennepin County Medical Center. The case remains under investigation.
• Lake Nokomis Regional Park: At 2:10 a.m., police responded to reports of gunshots in the park. At the park, officers found about 100 vehicles in the main parking lot. Police saw fireworks being launched and vehicles "being driven recklessly from the scene." Officers stopped a vehicle and recovered fireworks. A 20-year-old driver was cited.
• Harrison Park parking lot: At about 2:30 a.m., park police were notified that a 19-year-old woman had been shot in the park and drove to the hospital.
• Minnehaha Regional Park: Around 2:38 a.m., Minneapolis police officers responded to commercial-grade fireworks being launched from a vehicle at Minnehaha Regional Park. The vehicle was stopped and fireworks and a gun were recovered. Four men were arrested.

Meanwhile, one person was fatally shot in Minneapolis overnight. 

Speaking on Wednesday afternoon, Chief Brian O'Hara addressed the overnight chaos. The chief said the department received some reports of troubles early in the night, but things clearly ramped up around midnight and after.

"But it was really I think after midnight, we had probably a couple of hundred young people gathered in the area of the lake around Bde Maka Ska," explained the chief. "And that was where it became challenging just because there were so many kids gathered, onlookers to observe this activity, and they were parked deeply into some of the neighborhoods there. And it just took us time to clear everybody out. And just because of the volume of that, then it became, you know, trying to keep disrupting them wherever they were, then trying to go after them."

Chief O'Hara said their preventive methods worked in some cases, but it was difficult to keep up with everything that was going on.

"I mean, the areas where we had real problems last year, we disrupted traffic patterns and we prevented some of those things from happening," said the chief. "But obviously, we can't cover every inch of the city at the same time."

But beyond the people shooting off the fireworks and causing disruptions, O'Hara said people who gathered to watch the chaos caused as much trouble for officers trying to get the city under control.

"It's these large groups that then, you know, they disrupt traffic, they're watching, they're observing – the onlookers," said Chief O'Hara. "The vast majority of times fireworks were going off last night throughout the city, people were there, people were watching, that kind of thing. But we were most concerned about is… groups that were either shooting them at each other or were shooting them into the roadway and that kind of thing. But it's challenging for us because we wind up having so many people that just want to stand around and watch. And that adds to and almost encourages some of the behavior."