BOSTON (WHDH) - Just hours after a deadly shooting at a Fourth of July parade in Chicago took the lives of six individuals and injured two dozen more, security officials at the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular were confident that their protocols would ensure the safety of all gathered on the Esplanade Monday evening.
Officials said there was no credible threat and continued to monitor any intelligence coming in from Chicago but they felt well-prepared in the event of an emergency.
“We have a pretty robust multilayered, multi-agency operations plan for this event, a time -tested template for this event. You’ll see many of those aspects out here today. and many that you don’t see,” said Col. Christopher Mason of the Massachusetts State Police.
Those gathered on the lawn of the Esplanade could spy security officials sweeping the Charles River from their lawn chairs. To some, the abnormal sight reassured them of their safety.
“I feel very safe. The police and security came out in force this year, so (I’m) very comfortable,” said Phil Szymanski
While the shooting in Illinois was on the forefront of so many minds, most tried to not let it affect their holidays.
“For me it’s so sad, because around the world there’s so many shootings now and people are turning to violence,” said Marto Luczynska. “I just wish there were more programs to help people with a lot of these strong negative emotions that people are having a hard time working through.”
According to Mason, the security plan for the concert has been in place for months.
“We are constantly in a situation where we’re assessing the security of the venue,” he said. “The template calls for periodic sweeps, checking drainage areas garbage cans, sweeping for unattended backpacks and things, anything suspicious.”
Everyone arriving for the show had to enter through a an X-ray and thorough security check. Sandy Navarro, an attendee of the show, was pleased with the procedure.
“Very smooth, like clockwork, they’re checking everyone’s stuff making sure you don’t have anything that can harm anybody,” said Navarro.
Weapons, alcohol, glass containers, and backpacks were among the items prohibited from entering the event.
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