Police Confirm Shots Were Fired in Bay Creek Park

Editor's Note: Although Bay Creek Park is not located inside the Grayson city limits, it is considered a Grayson Park. However, it has a Loganville address.

Gwinnett County Police provided the police report from at in the Loganville-Grayson area, which shows that at least two shell casings were recovered from the scene.

The report supports eyewitness accounts as well as that appeared on Worldstarhiphop, titled "Thugs Vs Skatboarders At A Skatepark & Gun Shots Went Off." In the video, the gunshots were audible. Warning: The video contains violence and offensive language.

According to the incident report, as police arrived, “multiple cars were seen pulling out of both entry and exit lanes to evacuate the park.” Police were told that the gunman had left the park in an unknown vehicle. He was described as a black male, possibly leaving in a white or tan sport utility vehicle.

Witnesses said several people involved in the disturbance had been injured, “possibly from skateboarders hitting one another over the head with skateboards.” According to the report, responding officers noted several broken skateboards on the ground, but were unable to locate any victims or injured parties.

Witnesses said two or three vehicles drove into the skate park parking lot and five or six black males appeared to take issue with two or three white males on BMX-style bicycles. Words were exchanged, which led to pushing and shoving, and eventually a fight broke out. Onlookers reportedly jumped in, armed with skateboards and, according to witnesses, several people were seen laying on the concrete rendered temporarily unconscious.

The gunman is then alleged to have produced the gun and fired into the air. This caused some panic and when police sirens were heard, everyone scattered. Police reported that the injured subjects had either regained consciousness or been picked up and carried to vehicles that then fled the scene.

Residents concerned

When the story broke, people expressed concern about what appeared to be ongoing hostilities between skaters and basketball players at the park.

“This is very disconcerting to me as a parent of four young kids who play ball at Bay Creek Park,” Mandi Kraus posted on Patch. “When the skatepark first opened we went up there a few times for the kids to play, but now we won't because of what we've seen up there. There is no respect for our park by those who hang out up there. They leave it looking nasty and have more than once defaced the property. What really upsets me, and a lot of baseball/softball parents, is that we are the ones paying for them to have the ability to hang out there, especially at night. The cost for the lights is paid by all the registration fees that are collected. Just a shame that they choose to act like this.”

Some have suggested that the park be closed after dark since there doesn’t appear to be any supervision for some of the older youths who frequent it. However, others are concerned that closing it will leave teens without anywhere to go at all.

“The park has to be open after dark to accommodate the youth sports programs,” Donna Bruswich commented on Patch. “We need places for kids to go and hang out, and if they're active at the same time, even better. But there should be supervision in that area, without a doubt. Especially since it's not just kids that hang out there. It was older teens/adults that were the problem in this situation, not the kids who went to hang out and ride their bikes or skate.”

Police report few incidents

Cpl. Edwin Ritter, public information officer to , said he is looking into whether there are any initiatives to step up police activity at Bay Creek Park.

“I looked at the call history for the park. Most of the calls generated over the past couple months has been from officers conducting area checks,” Ritter said. “It appears that officers are regularly checking the park for suspicious and illegal activity. There was only one reported fight, and that was from this last incident. There was one drug arrest. The drug arrest stemmed from an individual who became ill after smoking too much marijuana. He was checked out by EMS and subsequently arrested for misdemeanor possession of marijuana.”

Ritter said he would check with the major of GCPD East Precinct regarding possible initiatives at the park.