A bull broke out of its holding pen and ran into a screaming crowd at a rodeo at the Florida State Fairgrounds over the weekend, according to footage from the incident.
According to Christopher Thornton, an eyewitness who was attending his very first rodeo, the bull broke through the side and leaped towards the audience in the stands.
In the video, everyone is seen rushing and parents grabbing their children. People are seen frantically jumping over the chairs, the video shows. Thornton tells FOX29 news that the first thing in his head said to record the incident as it was happening. “I couldn’t believe this was happening at my first rodeo!” Thornton tells the outlet.
Footage from the incident, which occurred on Saturday, August 27, shows the bull running around the stadium as a person over a loudspeaker can be heard telling screaming guests to remain calm.
Fortunately, a handler on horseback was able to quickly bring the bull back to the arena after roping it in from the other side of the fence.
“Everyone just started clapping,” Thornton said, noting that if it wasn’t for the handler, “more chaos would’ve definitely happened.”
Interestingly, no one in the stands was injured during the incident.