Fort Worth police say five officers were on scene at Village Creek Park Sunday when at least one gunman opened fire.
A crowd, originally estimated to be over 600 people by police, now placed at 400, gathered Sunday afternoon for unknown reasons.
Officers were attempting to disperse the crowd using sirens and loudspeakers when the gunfire began.
“That’s when you see all this chaos, cars going every direction,” Jesse Taylor said.
Taylor lives near the park and is also a precinct chair for the Tarrant County Republican Party.
“Something has to be put in place to stop what happened last night because if not, it will happen again. Not if, but when,” Taylor said.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Officer Buddy Calzada, a police spokesman, said the video was disturbing.
"When you have somebody that just doesn't respect the police, doesn't respect that neighborhood, it's a very sad situation," Calzada said.
Pastor Rodney McIntosh and other community activists called for an end to the violence.
"At some point we have to rise up and be a community," he said. "Let's do better."
McIntosh knows the streets.
He was a one-time gang member himself who went to prison twice.
Now, he's preaching peace and respect.
"We have to get a hold of our children, get a hold of the youth in our community because if we don't, we won't have a community," McIntosh said.
Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley said he was concerned that a crowd that large was able to gather amid the current pandemic.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous to me that in a situation like this that folks are that irresponsible,” Whitley said.
Fort Worth police say five people were shot and two suffered critical wounds. All are expected to recover, police said.
NBC 5 reporter Scott Gordon contributed to this article.
