On Saturday, April 19th, the Firefest 2014 in Lakewood, OH came to an early end following shots fired and hospitalizations from stab wounds. Allegedly, rival hardcore crews SOSF and FSU got into an argument that escalated quickly and ended in bloodshed. A television report says that shots were fired during the second night of the festival, which had been taking place at The Foundry and included headliners Ringworm, Death Before Dishonor and Weekend Nachos. At about 7:45, shots were fired, and while no injuries were reported from the gunshots, four victims were taken to local hospitals for machete and stab wounds. Twenty-three people were arrested in connection with the incident by the Lakewood Police. The below report is worth watching mainly to hear an incredulous reporter say “moshing crew?” in relation to a 16 year-old that got her car damaged by the melee. The show was cancelled shortly after the violence.
Here’s a report from a Lambgoat reader:
“The second night of Fire Fest in Cleveland got shut down after a fight between SOSF and FSU. The fight happened just before 7:30pm. The police didn’t immediately shut down the show. At about 8:45 XRepresentX was allowed to go on but for what ever reason 5 songs into their set Cleveland PD decided to shut the show down all together. As you can imagine lots of folks were uphappy as less than half the bands had played and the club was not offering refunds.”
It sounds very fortunate that none of the injuries were more serious.
19 Action News|Cleveland, OH|News, Weather, Sports
