'My first thought was an active shooter,' says Reds player in Banks crowd

Dane Myers and his family got out of the ballpark a little later than some Cincinnati Reds teammates after the season opener Thursday night, which put them on the curb, near the growing crowds at The Banks that night as they waited for their Uber.

Because of flight issues earlier in the day, they had luggage and both car seats.

Suddenly, Myers saw a large group running in his direction, quickly scooped up his 2 1/2-year-old, did his best to grab the rest, and headed “completely the other way.”

“When I saw the stampede start to happen, my first thought was that it was an active shooter. ‘Oh, sh—.’ “ he said. Then: “Take care of my kids.”

Reds victory Red Sox Dane Myers The Reds win for the first time in 2026. Here's how they did it

Reds rotation injury Nick Lodolo How long will Nick Lodolo be on IL? Terry Francona provides an update

The scare was brief, and the family was fine; they even were able to redirect the Uber and exit the scene in minutes.

“Thankfully, it seems like (police) handled it pretty well,” Myers said before Saturday’s game as he sat at his locker signing toy baseballs for the Reds’ annual Kids Opening Day event. “I just couldn’t tell what was happening for a few minutes.

“It was pretty wild.”

Welcome to Cincinnati, Dane Myers.

“Yeah, my first experience,” he said with a smile.

Players and Reds staff were able to smile about it Saturday. Most said they left the neighborhood before they saw the crowds get big.

But enough chaos ensued in and around The Banks, just outside the ballpark, for at least a short time a few hours after the Reds-Red Sox game that city, county and state law enforcement agencies were called to the scene, some armed with riot shields, resulting in at least 17 arrests.

“When I was leaving the field, we saw four or five cop cars zoom past us, looking like they were coming this way,” said center fielder TJ Friedl, who was just driving onto the bridge toward Newport, near the Heritage Bank Center, when he saw the police. “Luckily, we didn’t get caught up in anything.”

Outfielder Will Benson said he also drove away just as he saw police cars racing to the area but had no idea what what going on until his mother-in-law later told him the “crazy stuff” she saw on the news.

“I’m just glad all of our guys are safe,” he said.

Some of the sold-out crowd for the Reds’ opener that finished between 6:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. still appeared to be enjoying the nearby establishments when the crowds grew significantly larger, with sporadic fights reportedly breaking out.

Reds manager Terry Francona said he had trouble getting home to Newport “because it was so crowded” but had no idea what was going on.

“I saw that on my phone, but I thought it was AI,” he said. “I didn’t realize till the nexts day it was true. I saw the whole crowd, and I just thought it was somebody doing some (stuff) because it didn’t look real. There were so many people.”

A concert at the Heritage Bank Center just after the game may have contributed to some of the crowd problems – which resulted in The Banks being “shut down” by law enforcement and local business operators by roughly 10.

It was at least a strange perception for players, who are accustomed to a more placid scene after games in their ballpark neighborhood.

“What’s crazy is I lived there a couple years ago,” reliever Tony Santillan said of The Banks apartments. “I saw some videos (of Thursday night) from up above, from those balconies. It looked pretty crazy.”

He and his wife don’t live there now, he said, but not because of any sense of trepidation. Mostly because “it’s hard to get around,” he said of all the game-day road closures.

The Reds have played a central role over the years in safety planning within the local business community for downtown events and the team said it was in touch with law enforcement as events played out throughout the night.

“Safety is always a top priority for us,” said Karen Forgus Bowman, the Reds chief communications and community officer. “We stay in close touch with (the Cincinnati Police Department), and we have officers here on game days as well. We learned of the disruptions around the city on Thursday night, and we are grateful that the businesses next door at The Banks worked with authorities so quickly to help get things under control.”

This incident didn’t escalate beyond what appeared to be a few unruly encounters within the crowds. But coming less than eight months after a violent incident involving a crowd a few blocks away in August that made headlines, it figures to at least refuel public discourse over downtown safety.

Maybe even with a little added attention on Reds players, staff and fans.

After all, usually it’s the baseball that makes the biggest headlines around here on Opening Day.

“It did for a little bit,” Santillan said.