22-04-2025
Columbia County Sheriff's Office's response to this past weekend's incidents at the Columbia County Spring Fair
EVANS, Ga. (WJBF) – This weekend, the Columbia County Spring Fair saw its fair share of fights involving children. There has been social media chatter about people saying they saw a gun or heard gunshots. I talked with the Columbia County Sheriff's Department about what happened.
Although the Fair has a rule that a parent must accompany children 17 and under after 7 PM, there were still many incidents on Friday night, including fights between a 14- and 16-year-old, and Saturday night, the Fair had to close early at 9:30 due to unsupervised kids cutting lines and not following rules.
'Based on the fact of disruptions and the unruliness. The Merchants Association decided to close down the Fair,' said Andy Shedd, Special Operations Division, Columbia County Sheriff's Office.
People at the Fair say they saw a gun or heard gunshots, but investigators say they have no proof that weapons were shown or fired at the Fair.
'There is no indication and no proof whatsoever that that occurred. It was a social media myth that ran rampant, but our officers that were there were obviously eyewitnesses to the entire incident and to the unruliness, and they said there were no shots that were fired,' said Shedd.
One attendee was there with her family. She says that as they were leaving, they saw an officer rushing to where an incident must have occurred. They could tell from the moment they got to the fair that it was different and more hectic than in previous years.
'Next thing you know, you've got a big crowd of people screaming and running past us,' said Sheena Inglett at Saturday night's fair. 'My husband grabbed me and the baby, and we went beside a vendor, and she had us hide behind one of her curtains because nobody knew what was going on.'
Inglett says she hopes attendees get refunds because some had just gotten to the Fair before they were forced to leave. Shedd says they are looking into videos.
'If we can prove that someone was an instigator, then they will definitely be charged,' said Shedd.
The sheriff's office plans to provide more officers this weekend to ensure the safety of people who want to attend the Fair.
'Our plans for this this upcoming weekend is to bolster our efforts in security and have even more officers on hand so that nothing like this happens again,' said Shedd.
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