Man believed to have guns causes panic during youth sports games at park in Groton: police

A man who was believed to have retrieved two guns from a vehicle after a fight at a park in the Town of Groton Saturday caused hundreds of youth sports players and spectators to panic and has been arrested, according to police.

Dispatchers received multiple 911 calls about someone brandishing a gun at Poquonnock Plains Park around 1 p.m. At the time of the incident, there were several youth sporting events happening at the same time and there were several hundred spectators in attendance.

Other 911 calls reported gunshots were fired, police said. Officers from numerous departments including Groton City, Groton Long Point, Connecticut State Police, Ledyard, Stonington, Norwich, Mohegan Tribal, Mashantucket, New London, UConn, EnCon and Willimantic responded to the park.

According to investigators, two men were involved in a physical fight on the sidelines of one of the youth sports games. One of the men reportedly returned to his vehicle and retrieved what was believed by onlookers to be two guns. Police did not say what the items actually were.

Authorities said that caused panic throughout the crowd and sent hundreds of players and spectators fleeing from the park in all directions.

The chief of police in the town of Groton confirmed the incident happened during a youth flag football tournament involving multiple teams from different areas. It’s estimated hundreds of people were in attendance.

“It just highlights the importance of people, they need to be alert in whatever surroundings they’re in. if they’re in a sporting event like this, this shouldn’t have happened, but unfortunately it did,” Chief L.J. Fusaro Jr. said.

Capt. Gregory McCarthy was off duty and passed by the park Saturday on his way to the gym. He said that’s when he noticed something was wrong.

“I liken it to, like, an explosion of people just vacating the park. Everyone was running in a panic in all directions, to the point where they were running into traffic even,” McCarthy said. “I pulled over across the street and immediately called 911 and directed dispatch to send all officers to the park.”

He said he assisted with breaking up fights that had subsequently broken out after the firearms were pulled.

“Unfortunately it was a couple of adults who ruined the day for a lot of people,” he said. “I was not gonna be able to pass that scene, that was not what I’m trained to do, it’s not what our heart says to do. It truly speaks to being a first responder. I knew a bad thing was happening, when people were running away from it, I knew I had to go to it.”

The chief said he hopes there’s a lesson to be learned from this.

“Unfortunately, it sounds like there’s a couple folks that didn’t learn lessons that demonstrated the complete opposite of what we want to show our children when they’re growing up, that’s how to be good sports, how to be patient and how to be understanding even when you’re on the opposite sideline from someone else," Fusaro said.

In a Facebook post early Saturday afternoon, police said they wanted to clarify reports they had seen on social media and emphasized that the disturbance was not an active shooter situation.

Multiple K9 teams, officers and firefighters searched for what was believed by onlookers to be guns, but could not find them. It was later determined that no shots were actually fired at the park.

The two men reportedly involved in the fight were found by police. The 43-year-old Massachusetts man and 30-year-old Bridgeport man have been taken into custody and each face multiple charges.

The two men are believed to be the only ones involved in the incident.

Residents and visitors are being asked to avoid the park at this time. If you witnessed the incident, you're urged to contact police at (860) 441-6712.