Doko Meadows Park increases security after incident

BLYTHEWOOD, SC — Events at Doko Meadows Park will now have new fencing, a clear bag policy and age restrictions after an incident at the annual Rocking Red, White & Blue event caused panic.

At the July 3 event, a person fired a “splat gun,” a type of water/paintball gun, into the crowd, causing “alarm and confusion,” according to a press release from the mayor’s office.

Blythewood Mayor Sloan Griffin said it was important to him to show that safety was the top priority after the incident, even though the park had never seen such unrest before.

“We are seeing unprecedented numbers of participants,” says Griffin. “As I said, it used to be 7,000 to 8,000 participants, now it’s over 14,000.”

New safety measures include a clear bag policy as well as increased security measures at events. Anyone under 18 must now be accompanied by a parent or someone over 21, and the playground will be supervised and restricted to “age-appropriate” people. The mayor also plans to apply to the city for money for a new perimeter fence.

“There should be no amount of money that we argue about that is more important than the safety of our citizens,” Griffin said. “We’ve been through this, we can come out the other side even better, but know that we’re here and safety and security is our highest priority.”

On most days when there are no events, the park is quiet and not crowded, says park visitor Scarlet, a mother of two who often brings her children.

“I just love coming here. It’s a beautiful place and we’re very fortunate to have something like this in our community,” Scarlet said. “It would be nice to have more security for large events like this.”

The mayor plans to have the new security measures in place until the next major event in the park.

According to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, the juvenile responsible for the July 3 public disturbance has been charged with aggravated public disturbance.