MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The terrifying moments before shots were fired into a crowd full of children were caught on camera.
Teenagers erupted into a brawl near The Crystal Palace late Saturday night.
Witnesses said the video shows a group of teens fighting on the street near the popular skating rink.
The video depicts four people attacking a girl, who was punched in the head and kicked in the face.
“It was was real heartbreaking you know,” Kendra Jones, who lives in East Memphis, said.
People WREG showed the video to Tuesday couldn’t believe their eyes.
“You just have to put everything in God’s hands and pray about it,” Jones said.
WREG was told by witnesses that the fight happened moments before police locked up April Rawls for shooting into a crowd full of children.
Rawls told police she was angry after finding out her daughter was beaten, and another was run over by a car, according to the affidavit of complaint.
“It was really sad when I saw one of the girls just laid out on her back on the ground,” Jones said.
In the video, someone can be heard yelling at the driver of a car that appears to be white. Moments later, the video shows a girl on the ground.
“Somebody might have run her down or seen her fighting,” Jones said. “You never know.”
Crystal Palace management told WREG on Monday that the incident happened after they were closed. Additionally, managers said the fight and shooting didn’t happen on their property.
“A lot of times when stuff happens down the street we get associated with it, and I understand that, but, in a nutshell, it’s normally happening somewhere else and we get the gist of it happening at the Crystal Palace, Landius Matthews, general manager at The Crystal Palace, explained.
Matthews announced Monday he was getting rid of teen night, and kids can only enter the rink with an adult on Saturdays.
“I think it will be better if they have their parents there guiding around than everybody’s children just getting dropped off,” Jones said.
Police have not said if they are looking into the video, but some viewers told WREG everyone involved should be held accountable.
