ALBANY — Maybe you saw on social media that Wednesday’s fireworks show at the Empire State Plaza was marred by a mass shooting.
In real life that didn’t happen.
“The investigation has yet to [discover] any evidence of shots being fired and no injured parties have been located,” trooper Stephanie L. O’Neil said Thursday morning. Troopers were aware of some of the social media posts, she said.
Twice at the end of the fireworks display, groups of people could be seen sprinting away from sections of the crowd gathered at the southern end of the plaza. It is unclear what prompted either situation. O’Neil said State Police responded to people rushing out of the plaza, but were unable to locate any issue once the crowd settled.
But that didn’t stop speculation on a variety of Facebook and Reddit groups. One person commented that she was told several people were being treated for injuries. Many said they heard gunshots. Others said they heard of bomb threats and gunshots.
While troopers said there are no signs of violence at the plaza, something caused people to panic. That seems to have fueled conjecture about a variety of possible acts of violence, a situation that isn’t a surprise for people living in a country that regularly confronts mass shootings.
A Times Union photographer was at the plaza toward the end of the nearly 40-minute display. He noticed people near the west side of the plaza starting to scream. About two dozen people ran in front of the stage, heading east, with others heading up the steps to the State Museum as the fireworks continued.
Shortly after the fireworks ended, about a dozen people began screaming and running up Madison Avenue, with many heading toward Lincoln Park as troopers and Albany police monitored the scene.
One woman who was there with her daughter told the Times Union a crowd of people started running east…
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