Screams and running people alerted deputies to a violent incident at the Pitt County Fair on Saturday that included a teenager with a gun.

The Pitt County Sheriff’s Office said the deputies were providing security at the fair when a large fight that involved several people broke out.

Nobody was hurt nut investigators said three teens between the ages of 14-17 were detained and one of them had a loaded handgun.

As the teens were being taken to a holding area, there were reports of multiple fights in other areas of the fairground and deputies working at the fair asked for help from deputies working their regular community patrol assignments as well as assistance officers from the Greenville Police Department.

Several witnesses told deputies that another individual involved in or around the initial fight was also in possession of a handgun, had been seen flashing it openly, and was still somewhere on the fairgrounds. That person was not found.

Investigators met with the fair manager and a decision was made to close the fair.

Juvenile petitions will be sought against the juvenile with the handgun.

The case remains under investigation.

In the coming months, Sheriff Paula Dance will be partnering with Greenville Police Chief Mark Holtzman to establish a formal recommendation for a county fair security standard to be presented to the fair manager with the hope that the 2022 fair will be a much safer environment.