A man is accused of shooting at a car during a road rage incident as emergency services were stretched to breaking point during last weekend’s spring break on Tybee Island from Georgia
An estimated 40,000 to 55,000 HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) converged on the three-square-mile island for the Orange Crush Festival, which created havoc and roadblocks, especially on Highway 80 .
Late Saturday night, 38-year-old Adam Bauer was arrested and charged with six counts of aggravated assault after allegedly shooting at another car on Highway 80 near Fort Pulaski, according to the police department of Chatham County.
One of the victims suffered a non-life threatening gunshot wound and was taken to a local hospital for treatment. The other five people in the car escaped injury, police said.
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People dance in the street and in cars as the sun sets at Tybee Island’s Orange Crush Festival over the weekend. (RJ Smith/Savannah Morning News/USA Today Network)
The Orange Crush Festival, which began in the late 1980s for HBCU students and alums, returned to Tybee Island, which was a whites-only beach until the mid-1960s, after a two-year in Jacksonville, Florida.
However, the sheer volume of people who visited the island, which has a population of about 3,000, reduced emergency services in the area.
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About 11,555 cars drove onto the barrier island Saturday, according to city estimates, and there were about a dozen car crashes on Highway 80, creating hours of gridlock.
However, partygoers didn’t let the bumper-to-bumper traffic slow down the event over the weekend.
A large crowd of people enjoy Tybee Beach at sunset during Saturday’s Orange Crush Festival. (RJ Smith/Savannah Morning News/USA Today Network)
Videos and images of people dancing in the streets and in cars blaring music flooded social media, and the event was linked with an unknown number of complaints about noise, drinking violations and littering.
As of Tuesday morning, Tybee Island police did not immediately have several alleged crimes and complaints committed over the weekend, but Fox News Digital filed a public records request for the information.
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Shannon Sharpe, a Hall of Fame NFL tight end with the Denver Broncos who went to Savannah State University, tweeted a video of an alleged fight during this weekend’s festivities and said who was “ASHAMED” with three sad face emojis.
“I am one of the original creators of ‘Orange Crush.’ I am ASHAMED of this,” Sharpe tweeted Monday.
A partygoer leans out a car window during stopped traffic at the Orange Crush Festival in Tybee Island, Georgia, on April 22, 2023. (RJ Smith/Savannah Morning News/USA Today Network)
The police department said in a statement Monday that it was working to produce the “traditional weekly summary.”
“We fully understand that everyone has questions about the events of this weekend,” the Tybee Island Police Department said. “Rest assured that our public information officer is working diligently to produce our traditional weekly summary.”
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“However, there is a lot of paperwork and paperwork to process. We ask for your patience as we work to ensure we provide complete and accurate information.”
Chuck Kearns, general manager of Chatham Emergency Services, told local newspaper Savannah Now that there were 10 car crashes between noon and 10 p.m. Saturday, including a crash where seven people were injured and a passenger was ejected.
Friends take a quick dip in the ocean at Tybee Island, Georgia, on April 22, 2023. (RJ Smith/Savannah Morning News/USA Today Network)
“I can only equate it to the kind of traffic jams when I was in Florida and they were evacuating because of the hurricanes,” Kearns told the press. “Our crews were on the ropes all day non-stop.”
Tybee Mayor Shirley Sessions said in a statement to Savannah Now that this year’s Orange Crush Festival “was certainly too big and chaotic.”
“But at the end of the day, Tybee Island is fortunate that no lives were lost or any property destroyed,” Sessions said.
HISTORY OF ORANGE CRUSH
In the early 1990s, Orange Crush had a reputation for being a wild and crime-ridden weekend, and Savannah State University disaffiliated with the event in 1991 due to the high number of arrests and allegations of violence.
Two years ago, the event was moved to Jacksonville, Florida, “due to lack of resources, limited parking, civil rights violations and political injustices,” according to a June 2021 Jacksonville news release. com, which cited the event’s website. The website has since been taken down.
The event returned to Tybee Island last weekend for the first time since 2020.
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The city’s mayor said in a text to Savannah Now that city leaders will have a review and plan after the action.
“Because Tybee Island is a public beach, we are limited in what we can do to control this event,” Sessions told the local newspaper. “However, in the future, we will work on better solutions.”
Chris Eberhart is a crime and US news reporter for Fox News Digital. Send tips by email to chris.eberhart@fox.com or on Twitter @ChrisEberhart48
