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A Juneteenth celebration at Lake Merritt in Oakland took a dramatic turn as gunshots rang out, leaving four people injured.

The Oakland Police Department said over two dozen officers had been monitoring the crowd of 5,000 people celebrating at the lake on Wednesday.

“The crowds were peaceful until around 8:15 p.m. when an illegal sideshow involving vehicles and motorbikes occurred near Grand Avenue and Bellevue Avenue,” the police department said in a press release.

Officers said the situation escalated as the crowd became hectic and a fight broke out. Then several shots rang out.

The Oakland Fire Department said it transported at least four gunshot victims to a local hospital. Police also took some victims to nearby hospitals. Other victims were self-transported.

Tamia Robinson of Richmond said her friend was shot and killed at the event. She said there were sideshows, fights, and fireworks going off, which added to the confusion. She said she ran from the sound of the fireworks.

“So we ran in this direction, next thing you hear another boom boom boom from the other side of the lake,” she recalled.

Robinson said she had arrived at the celebration around 7 p.m. and noticed things started to go south around 8:45 p.m.

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“We all came out here to celebrate our culture… Our freedom. You see people are still out here singing and dancing. This is not fun. Just two or three years ago this happened, and it seems to be a repeating cycle. There needs to be a change in the community,” she said.

Robinson also claimed police used excessive force.

Oakland police could not confirm any deaths.

No arrests have been made, and police are working to determine if there was more than one shooter.

The police department said after the shooting, officers tried to move the crowd to a safe area. During that process, some people in the crowd punched and pushed officers, resulting in minor injuries, officials said. One person was arrested for assaulting an officer.

“The events were not sanctioned gatherings,” the department wrote.

In 2021, a shooting during a Juneteenth celebration at Lake Merritt left six people injured and a 22-year-old San Francisco man dead.

The exact number of victims in Wednesday’s shooting has not yet been determined.