One shot following incident at Shake the Lake

One person is injured, after shots were fired following Saturday's Shake the Lake fireworks show.

A police officer also injured their leg during the commotion.

Authorities say it happened at about 10:30 Saturday night, under the Monona Terrace on John Nolen Drive. Parts of John Nolen Drive were closed early Sunday morning but are now back open.

Madison Police believe the individuals involved were known to each other and this was not a random act. The Madison Police Department does not believe there is a continuing risk to the public.

An NBC15 News photographer was on the scene at the time. He says people began stampeding after the fireworks.

NBC15 News spoke with Arika Kaosa who was attending the Shake the Lake event when shots were fired.

“I had never had anything like this happen to me especially at an event where there was a strong police presence and it was very shocking to say the least. It will stick with me for quite some time if not the rest of my life,” she says.

Kaosa was able to take cover safely after the shots were fired.

“It was definitely not fireworks. You could tell it was actual gunshots. I grabbed the person I was with and we told other people there were gunshots and we went inside,” Kaosa says.

One viewer wrote to us on Facebook saying, “I heard the noise of shots after the fireworks ended. Large crowd to the right of the country music stage started running. Ran inside and told other people who had started to leave to take shelter.”

Another NBC15 viewer told us via Facebook, “We were right in the middle of it. People starting running like a stampede and I ran as fast as I could. I’m still shaking.”

Madison Police Chief Mike Koval responded to the incident in a statement Sunday morning. Koval reassured people that security is taken very seriously at large-scale events like Shake the Lake.

"While not minimizing what could have potentially been a disastrous outcome--multiple shots fired in a crowd, terror and fleeing---this sanctioned event was heavily vetted with multiple entities and staffed across the board," Koval said.

Koval also said he hopes Saturday's incident does not define the event and thanked service personnel and event staff for helping people to safety.

"'Shake the Lake' has been a 'family-friendly' venue enjoyed by thousands over several years now and it would be fair to say that the confrontation which took place last night is an anomaly, an outlier," Koval said.

Madison police officers say the investigation is in the preliminary stages. Authorities ask that anyone with more information contact Crime Stoppers after 608-266-6014.