Following the annual Wilmington Hispanic Parade, police in Delaware had to disperse an unruly crowd of over 1,000 people, where they say gunshots were fired.

The Wilmington Hispanic Parade originally kicked off at noon on the 1200 block of West 4th Street. The event is the largest cultural parade in Wilmington and celebrates the beginning of National Hispanic Heritage Month. The parade normally brings over 2,000 people together, according to the event website. 

After parade festivities wrapped up at around 4 p.m., police were notified about disorderly conduct and illegal activity taking place near 4th and DuPont streets. Wilmington police said they received calls reporting fights, people armed with guns and people acting drunk and disorderly.

Officers tried to break up the crowd that grew to an estimated 1,000-1,500 people, but the people refused to disperse, police said.

Wilmington police said they saw people throwing rocks and bottles, cars operating recklessly and even multiple gunshots were fired at some point.

Several Delaware law enforcement agencies joined the effort to break up the crowd, which was finally dispersed at around 9 p.m. No one was injured in the incident. However, Wilmington police are still investigating and working to identify those who they said were involved in criminal activity. Anyone with information about the suspects involved in illegal activity is asked to call Senior Corporal Keith Johnson at (302) 571-4415

Parade organizers respond

Nuestras Raices Delaware, which organized the parade, released a statement about the incident.

"We were saddened to learn of the public safety issues that took place well after the official event concluded and our team had departed. These incidents were completely separate from our organized parade, and we are disappointed that they occurred," the statement read in part. 

"For now, we believe that if hosting this annual event brings public safety concerns, we will not return," the statement concluded. 

The Wilmington Hispanic Parade has been celebrated for 49 years and is a kickoff celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month in Delaware.