UPDATE, 1:46 p.m. | A group of people talked to KSHB 41 News and said they witnessed a shooting in the area of the carnival on Saturday night.
Police reports confirm officers were called on a report of a shooting to the area of East Walnut Street and South Dodgion Street.
The group of people said their car was shot up and it appeared a group of young men with a gun were coming from the direction of the carnival.
UPDATE, 11:35 a.m. | Officer Jack Taylor provided an update on the shooting investigation from outside the Independence Police Station.
He said they can now confirm it was three juveniles and one adult hurt in the shooting, not four juveniles as previously said. They were all shot in lower extremities and have been treated and released from the hospital.
There is no suspect at this time and tips from the public are being sought.
Police believe the shooting stemmed from an altercation between two people where one person pulled a gun from a backpack.
There will be a greater focus on security at the carnival portion of the festival for Monday, though police do not anticipate any problems.
Taylor said he talked with members of the Independence Chamber of Commerce, which puts on the event, and said they are already tossing around ideas to increase security for next year's festival.
Some of the mentioned ideas include creating controlled access entrances to the carnival, bag checks or a festival curfew. However, they are just ideas.
UPDATE, 5:20 a.m. | Independence police spokesperson Officer Jack Taylor told KSHB 41 News that the shooting occurred in the carnival area of the festival, which is just south of the main area containing vendors on the Independence town square.
There were around 15 shots fired in the shooting and people were immediately evacuated and the festival shut down.
Several officers were stationed around the festival and in the carnival area specifically, but there are a lot of exits, which made finding the suspect difficult, according to Taylor.
Taylor mentioned that the department chose social media to ask parents to pick up their children because it's the easiest way to reach people and there were many unaccompanied young people at the carnival that needed to be picked up.
"Don't bring your kids up here and drop them off, don't let them be unsupervised and you stay up here with them, make sure there's a responsible adult with them," he said. "And I think one of the biggest things that we can do is make sure that you know when we bring our kids up here to something like this that an adult stays with them or at least is in the area, in case something like this happens, we, if something bad should happen like what happens tonight. And, you know your juvenile that he dropped off here becomes a victim, you know, we have no way to get ahold of you and we have no way to let you know that, you know your loved one has been involved."
He said there will likely be an increase in security Monday, as the festival enters its final day. He emphasized that people should still feel safe enough to get out and enjoy the festival.
UPDATE, 2:40 a.m | The Independence Police Department said four juveniles were shot at the SantaCaliGon Days Festival in Independence Saturday night.
The department originally tweeted there were three victims.
According to officers, police received reports of shots fired in the carnival area of the festival around 11 p.m.
The four victims were transported to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The suspect fled the scene.
Police described the suspect as a male possibly in a gray hoodie.
Anyone with information should call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.
ORIGINAL STORY, Midnight | Three are injured following a shooting Sunday night at the SantaCaliGon Days Festival in Independence, according to Independence police.
Around 11:00 p.m., the Independence Police Department posted on Facebook asking for parents to pick up their children due to "an emergency at the carnival."
Shortly after, they posted again that officers were on the scene of a shooting at SantaCaliGon.
IPD says there are currently three victims and that, "This is a fluid scene and more information will be forthcoming."
