UPDATE: July 4, 2025 11:14 p.m.
Officer Daniel Strassenberg, Public Information Officer with the Spokane Police Department, stated that the incident began with “some sort of fight or altercation” breaking out near the clocktower in Riverfront Park.
Somebody might have yelled to the crowd that one of the people involved in the altercation had a gun, Strassenberg speculated, which ignited a wave of panic. This gun-related claim turned out to be “completely false.”
Attendees of the firework show began to flee Riverfront Park on foot as law enforcement moved into the area…