India, Nov. 22 -- Gunshots were fired at the downtown Concord Christmas tree lighting in North Carolina on Friday, WCNC Charlotte reported.

Brett Ford, a balloon artist, described the chaos.

"We had a line of probably 250-300 people, and then all of a sudden, you heard what you thought was fireworks, but it's about 40 minutes early for the fireworks," Ford told the outlet. "And then all panic broke loose. Everybody scattered, everybody started running, people were falling down."

WCNC Charlotte reports that shots were fired around 7:30 p.m., prompting officers to secure the area. Police were seen putting up crime-scene tape shortly after the incident.

The City of Concord later confirmed the shooting and announced that the remainder of ...