Omaha officer shoots driver at annual Halloween block party

A Halloween celebration in Omaha turned frantic after a man drove through a barricaded area and was shot by a police officer Monday night

A Halloween celebration turned frantic after a man drove through a barricaded area and was shot by an Omaha police officer Monday night, police said.

The Omaha World-Herald reports that the shooting occurred during the popular annual “Halloween on the Boulevard" block party in the Minne Lusa neighborhood in Omaha.

Children and adults were out in the neighborhood trick-or-treating when a car drove recklessly through a blocked-off area shortly after 7 p.m., Omaha Police Lt. Neal Bonacci said.

The driver of the vehicle was shot by an Omaha police officer and taken to Nebraska Medical Center with serious injuries. The name of the driver has not yet been released. Police say no one else was injured.

Chrissy Lopez, a resident of the neighborhood, told the Omaha World-Herald that the vehicle initially drove slowly through the crowd as people yelled at the driver to stop.

“He would stop and then drive a little more,” she said. “I heard his engine rev and people started screaming, and I thought ‘Oh no.’ And then I heard the gunshots, and everybody just started screaming and running and crying.”

Police and firefighters were already on the scene for the block party, which is put on by the Miller Park Minne Lusa Neighborhood Association and draws thousands of people to the area each year.

The shooting is under investigation.