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Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Wild moment Army Rangers go rogue and open fire at crowded Florida beach in mock sea battle gone wrong
A group of at least 18 Army Rangers apparently went rogue when they opened fire at a crowded Florida beach last Friday and sent boaters and sunbathers ducking for cover. The soldiers were caught on video wearing their military fatigues and Army Ranger t-shirts in two row boats off of Crab Island when they fired blanks into the air next to people wading through the shallow water and enjoying the warm weather. In one video shared to social media, a woman could be heard off camera shouting 'Is that real?' as the shots went off. The sound of guns discharging prompted clients on Michael Ingram's charter boat to try to take cover, he told Task & Purpose. After the second burst, Ingram said he heard people screaming in the distance - and his heart sank as he thought somebody had been shot. 'This is unacceptable because there are so many real mass shootings going on in America each year,' the boat captain argued. 'You can't be joking about it.' Meanwhile, the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office reported it received at least two 911 calls about the shots fired. The shocking incident apparently came after the Army Rangers with the 6th Ranger Training Battalion participated in a pirate festival just five miles away - but city officials and festival organizers have denied the wild scene was part of the festivities. Army Rangers take part in the annual Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival at the nearby Fort Walton Beach each year. As part of the festivities, the soldiers engage in a mock battle in which they fire blanks while riding in small boats to capture the legendary pirate. Festival officials, though, note that the Army Rangers in the videos were not participating in a sanctioned event at the time - and were located outside of the festival's perimeter. City of Fort Walton Beach officials also noted that it had sent out noise alerts earlier in the day detailing the exact time frame and location of the battle, as well as the noises that could be expected. The shots heard Friday afternoon were not on the schedule, city officials said on social media. They explained that the mock sea battle 'was the ONLY approved festival activity that involved the Army Rangers firing their weapons.' 'What happened at Crab Island was NOT part of the Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival, NOR was it approved by either the City of Fort Walton Beach or the Billy Bowlegs organization.' 'We do not know what occurred at Crab Island on Friday... except to say that it was not in any way part of the Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival,' city spokesman Devon Ravine added, noting that the Fort Walton Beach Landing is five miles from Crab Island. A soldier who spoke on the condition of anonymity to Task & Purpose also seemed surprised by his colleagues' actions. He said that if the Rangers were testing their weapons prior to the Pirate Festival, they showed poor judgment by doing it so close to civilians. The soldier also expressed his doubt that a senior leader would have given permission to fire weapons in public outside of the designated festival area. Jennifer S. Gunn, a spokeswoman for the Army Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Georgia, has since confirmed the US Army is investigating the incident. 'We take this situation seriously and are investigating,' she said, adding that the Army 'will ensure accountability based on the outcome of the investigation.' She has since announced that the 18 soldiers involved in the fake shooting have been temporarily suspended as instructors, pending the outcome of the investigation. As part of the suspension, Gunn said, the soldiers cannot train students going through the final stage of the US Army Ranger Course at Camp Rudder, which is located on Elgin Air Force Base in Florida.
Miami Herald
21-05-2025
- Miami Herald
Soldiers firing blank rounds at Florida boaters prompts investigation, Army says
The U.S. Army launched an investigation into reports Army Rangers were firing blank rounds from their weapons while surrounded by boaters and swimmers off Crab Island in the Florida Panhandle, officials say. Fort Walton Beach officials report the incident happened Friday, May 16, after the 6th Ranger Training Battalion at Camp Rudder participated in the Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival. Videos shared on social media show at least two groups of soldiers were in boats when some among them began firing automatic weapons in the crowded waters. Social media outrage over the incident prompted Fort Walton Beach officials to issue a statement declaring city officials were not involved in 'military personnel firing their weapons at Crab Island.' 'As part of Friday night's festival schedule, soldiers from the 6th Ranger Training Battalion at Camp Rudder were to engage in a mock 'sea battle' with Billy Bowlegs as his boat approached the Fort Walton Beach Landing. This 'battle' involved the soldiers firing blanks from their weapons,' the city wrote in a May 17 Facebook post. 'What happened at Crab Island was not part of the Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival, nor was it approved by either the City of Fort Walton Beach or the Billy Bowlegs organization.' The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office has jurisdiction over Crab Island and reports the first of five calls about the incident came at around 3:22 p.m. Friday. Details of what callers reported were not released. Rangers involved in the incident are cadre assigned to the battalion at Florida's Camp Rudder where the swamp phase of the U.S. Army Ranger Course occurs. The base is within Eglin Air Force Base, about a 30-mile drive northeast from Fort Walton Beach. The 6th Ranger Training Battalion belongs to the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade which is a subordinate brigade of the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning. It remains unclear what prompted the spontaneous display of firepower. There are no reports of anyone being injured. 'The Army is aware of the incident that occurred at Crab Island,' according to Jennifer S. Gunn, public affairs director at the Maneuver Center of Excellence & Fort Benning. 'We take this situation seriously and are investigating. The Army will ensure accountability based on the outcome.' Videos posted on social media have become part of the investigation. It appears the weapons were not pointed at anyone in the water, and the shots were fired in the air. Social media reaction to the incident appears divided with some calling the attention overblown, while others note the sound of live fire in a crowd can easily incite panic. 'Shooting off a gun (even if it was blanks) in a crowded public place is not what I'd call 'benign.' Not in today's culture,' Ollie Walker wrote in a Facebook post. 'This could have gone terribly sideways very quickly had just one person felt in danger and took action,' Priscilla Kevern posted. 'If you didn't see who was firing it would be concerning at the very least to hear automatic weapons when you're at the beach,' Jeron Stone said.
