Does this mean the anonymous people who posted repeatedly on the Patch about gunshots and stampedes were mistaken?

I think that there can be a mob mentality in print as well and people will embellish what happened in order to support what they believe about a community

I have photos and video of huge swarms of people running down the street and video of police in riot gear moving in. Yea, nothing happened- sure.

Hi Garry. There were indeed two stampedes. I witnessed them both from my vantage point at the patch of grass in front of the Bertram Woods branch at the corner of WCR and eastbound Shaker. Whether those were caused by gunshots, or people claiming there was a gun, or whether the police were coming in to bust up a fight and people went running....I'm not sure.

It does seem pretty evident that the west side of the school was privy to all of the action, while things were quiet on the east side.

As far as all of your talk about "rumor-mongering" and what not (and isn't this your fifth or sixth post accusing other posters of this?) I'm not really sure what your agenda is? There were two stampedes of teenagers from the direction of the school towards WCR. Why are you so hesitant to believe that when at least four posters on this site reported it?

Garry lives in a fantasy world, apparently. It was very scary - to the point we went inside and locked our doors. I witnessed numerous black males light fireworks and throw the into the crowd if people. This caused everyone to start running, the the riot police came and pushed everyone out of the neighborhood. Unfortunately people were trampled in the chaos. Kids / adults were fighting in the streets, and it seemed that they were all headed down warrensville towards chagrin - I highly doubt they were property owners in Shaker Hts. I really hope the city cancels this event, it is unsafe - unless they bring in the national guard. As much as people want to think the heights is a great place to live - this event was an example of how rapidly things are changing.

Garry, I can assure you that no one was mistaken about the stampedes (for lack of a better term). While I respect Chief Lee's assertion that there were not shots fired (I did not specifically hear them), I think it is insulting to act as if there were just troublemakers "milling about," rather than acknowledge the incidents that occurred on the west side of the school.

We were seated near Warrensville Center Road, and we witnessed two incidents in which swarms of people came running towards us. The second was an especially large group that included teenagers as well as adults and families who were running away from the parking lot area. Quite frankly, the latter incident was terrifying in the moment, and we left immediately after. While I do not know what caused the stampedes (i.e., we did not actually hear shots, see the fights, etc.), I can assure you they happened.

In addition, we witnessed the response of the police, which was to load up in what appeared to be a riot- or SWAT-type vehicle from the Beachwood Police department and drive through the crowd calling out over a loudspeaker for citizens to clear the road. They drove into the parking lot. The lights of the police cars near us, which had been turned off for the fireworks, were started up again.

As citizens of this community, we are simply concerned about what occurred. We observed two individuals videotaping from atop the middle school--I'd love to know who they were and what they captured.

Just to reiterate what Nikki said earlier, any and all photos and videos are certainly welcome. If you're able to comment to this story, that means you're already Patch users who are able to upload any media to this article. If anybody doubts the validity of what you're saying, give them proof.

I wasn't there. But the ToS-violating anonymous posters are unmistakably and recklessly using hyperbole and exaggeration.

The facts are likely bad enough. There's no need to breathlessly and falsely make the story worse than it is.

Let me just say,my wife and daughter and sister in law and niece were all there,whom I believe would not fabricate a story as such just to make it seem worse than it actually was,they also attended the firework display last year,and guest what it was the same type of thugs there fighting and causes trouble;but this year it was ten times worse,several police depts had to response,some big tank from the police dept. was called in as if it was a riot,and in my assertion it was a thumb nail close to being one.my daughter's friend also stated that guys were fighting ontop of her car,many were assaulted,innocent folks were caught in the middle of this choas.This is the second year in a row this type of violence has happened in shaker during the fireworks display,In closing I truy believe from the twitting thats going on,these thugs were from other areas,Years ago this type of atrocity was unheard of in this great city we call Shaker.last year on coventry it was just as bad.this Black on Black violence must cease.

Apparently in Shaker Heights someone has to get shot or killed for the Police Chief to recognize a problem. Good to know - they should include his comments in "welcome to shaker heights" letters to new residents.

I was there.I posted about this story.I did see people running,I did hear a young man talk about a weapon.I did see a young man punched a young female .I did see multiple Police enforcement ,I did see the Beachwood Police department Swat vehicle,my post was not a rumor,I'm not Anonynomous.I'm a blogger for Patch.My post was not mistaken.This behavior need to be addressed and it is unacceptable in everyone's neighborhood .My prayers go out to the families of Shaker Heights .

I was present, w/my husband, in chairs, on the lawn just N. of Shaker Blvd across from the front of the Shaker Middle School doors. We saw, as in recent yrs past, mostly Black teens milling around in front of the school. MOST of them were just doing what teens do- boys and girls watching each other; some innocent silliness; laughter; texting. Soon after the fireworks began, there WAS a stampede of kids running across Shaker Blvd. right near us, many going into the bushes. We sat, as kids just ran around us. They were not interested in us. (Two white, middle-aged adults sitting in little chairs) I noticed two boys that were my students this past year. (I teach HS in a nearby suburb.) I asked them why they were running, and what happened. They had no idea! They said that all of a sudden the police started to spray mace, and everyone started running, so they did. (I told them that there must have been a reason for the police to spray mace- there must have been a fight that others were encouraging!) We stayed and watched the rest of the fireworks, then walked to our car about a mile away in a Shaker neighborhood on Courtland. We did not see anymore trouble on the way to our car. We just saw Blacks and Whites, young and not-so-young, going where they needed to go. We appreciated the intense police presence, and generally felt safe, although I do worry these days, in any of the suburbs, about the possibility of guns.