Wawa Welcome America concert will enhance safety after two police officers were struck by bullets in 2022
Changes to the concert’s safety plan come following an incident last year in which two police officers were injured in a shooting.
This year’s Wawa Welcome America concert will have an “enhanced security footprint,” organizers said Tuesday.
Attendees at the July 4 concert — headlined by Demi Lovato and Ludacris — will enter the area through a single entrance at Logan Circle, and will see additional security measures including metal detectors, bag checks, and the presence of more security personnel, Wawa Welcome America Inc. president and CEO Michael DelBene said.
Changes in the concert’s public safety plan were undertaken in collaboration with city officials. DelBene did not elaborate on changes to the event’s security, but noted that partner NBC10 will “communicate how folks can be prepared for what they will experience” leading up to the concert.
“All of this is done in an effort to create an event that will remain open and welcoming to all, but at the same time remain a safe space for all to enjoy,” DelBene said. “And enjoy we will.”
Changes to the safety plan come after two police officers were injured in a shooting last year that caused a panicked evacuation of thousands of attendees from the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
Philadelphia Police Officer Sergio Diggs and Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputy John Foster were standing near each other in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art when they were shot. Each officer suffered a graze wound — one in the forehead, and the other in the shoulder — and were treated at a hospital and released later that night.
The shots that struck the officers were fired from outside the event site, potentially a mile or more away, investigators later said. Ballistic tests showed the .40-caliber rounds were shot from the same firearm.
Mayor Jim Kenney later told reporters that he would “be happy when I’m not here — when I’m not mayor, and I can enjoy some stuff.” Kenney’s statement caused a public outcry, and he later walked back his comments, saying they were made in “the frustration of the moment.”
“I may be biased, but I think there’s no better place in the country to celebrate the Fourth than right here in the birthplace of our nation,” Kenney said Tuesday. “I’m proud that we continue to have this free festival for residents and visitors that celebrates our vibrant and diverse city, and everything it has to offer.”