(7/6/98)
PLEASANTON, Calif. (Reuters) - A battle over a stuffed ''Tweety Bird'' prize may have sparked the weekend shooting spree at a California county fair that injured eight people, the San Francisco Examiner said Monday.
``They were fighting for the last Tweety Bird,'' Gary Godinez, who was running the Alameda County Fair carnival booth where the trouble erupted Saturday night, told the newspaper.
``These guys got in an argument and then one pulled out a gun and started shooting over one dumb little toy bird,'' he said. ``It was a really stupid reason to go crazy like that.''
Police said 23-year-old Jamal Johnson was arrested after Saturday's fusillade, which sent thousands of people stampeding out of the fairgrounds and forced authorities to cancel a planned Fourth of July fireworks display.
Eight people were taken to local hospitals with bullet wounds, and at least eight others were injured in the melee that followed as terrified fair-goers scrambled for the exits.
Officials at the Alameda County Sheriff's Department told the newspaper the Tweety Bird scenario ``had credibility'', but said they were also investigating the possibility that the violence was provoked by a fight over a woman, or may have been gang-related.
Godinez, however, said the gunfire exploded after two men simultaneously won a carnival game that involved tossing a miniature basketball through a small hoop.
Each insisted on taking home the Tweety Bird prize, leading to a confrontation that escalated into pushing and shoving.
When one man tried to dump a plastic garbage can over his opponent's head, the man pulled out a 9mm handgun and started firing wildly, Godinez and other witnesses were quoted as saying.
``It was just wild shooting,'' Nicholas Grayson, another both operator, said. ``It was totally crowded and everybody went crazy trying to get away.''
Officials cleared the fairgrounds about 40 miles east of San Francisco, where thousands of people were enjoying the holiday evening after a special rock concert by musician Peter Frampton. A planned fireworks display was also canceled.
Johnson is being held at the Alameda County Jail and will be charged with eight counts of attempted murder, Lt. Dave Hoig told the newspaper.
``It appears on the surface to be a totally random action -- it was just spray and pray,'' Hoig said.
Johnson told witnesses as he was arrested, ``That bastard looked just like Sylvester. If I let him have Tweety, the poor thing would have been eaten for sure.''