'Close down spring break': Residents, vacationing families caught in crossfire of PCB chaos

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Sariah Hooker has lived in Panama City Beach for 12 years. She's seen some calm spring breaks and some crazy ones.

But, like most Panama City Beach residents, she's never experienced anything as chaotic as this past weekend.

"It has, without a doubt, been bad in the past, but for the first time locals felt the need to shut down their businesses, which I think says a lot about how out of control this situation truly is," said Hooker, a gift shop manager.

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Longtime Panama City Beach residents and vacationers are speaking out against the violence that plagued their beloved beach town during the weekend.

The Beach experienced an onslaught of what are being dubbed "true criminals" on Friday evening, complete with a shooting, crowds and even a stampede at the Walmart at the intersection of Front Beach and Middle Beach roads. Local law enforcement officials announced Monday that they confiscated 75 illegal guns and arrested more than 160 people throughout the weekend. 

Caught in the crossfire of chaos were residents and vacationing families.

One of them was Dianne Crockett, a Front Beach Road resident. She was taking her 4-year-old son to his baseball game when she was ran into a huge traffic jam caused by people fleeing and police being forced to shut down roads to contain the chaos.

"We're like 20 minutes away from the ball field and it took us an hour to get there," Crockett said. "And then afterwards, it took us over an hour to get home because all the roads were closed down. Walmart had closed down and it was just, it was a mess."

Crockett said in her 16 years of living in the area, this is one of the most dangerous spring breaks she's seen.

"Close it down, close down spring break," Crockett said. "And then they say it's not spring breakers, it's the 'hundred milers.' Regardless of who it is, go to your own town and trash your own town, quit trashing ours. And you know, we raise our families here. We don't need this."

Hooker said she had to lock her gift shop's doors to keep everyone out. In the adjoining restaurant, she said workers were having an even harder time.

"In the midst of thousands of people running through the boardwalk, we also had customers who were sitting down and enjoying their dinner," Hooker said. "Our staff had to continue to accommodate them in the middle of all this destructive behavior, so their safety was put at risk."

For new residents, like Orlando-native Khalil Campbell, spring break was something they knew they would experience when moving to the area. Yet, Campbell said it was a lot more intense than he realized.

"I remember, well, I was mainly at home, but I passed one time while I was heading to the grocery store and it was very chaotic and truly something I've never seen before," Campbell said. "I never expected this. I expect a lot of partying and a lot of people having fun and things like that, but didn't expect the level of like vandalism and violence involved."

It's not just residents who are concerned. Alabama vacationers Kenzie Hawkins and Bre Miller had to transfer to another motel after violence near the first motel.

We "were driving down the road and there were these people getting pulled over and they were unloading an AR and everything," Hawkins said. "And then after that, my friend texted me, 'There's been a shooting,' and the road was closed down and then there's been another shooting."

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Hawkins and Miller said they were nervous learning about all the events that were happening, scared they would get kidnapped with all the people running around at night.

"I would (come back here for vacation), but probably not like down to this area," Miller said. "Maybe like farther up."

According to Panama City Police Department Chief Mark Smith, the visitors to Bay County who caused the weekend's chaos were not traditional spring breakers, but "true criminals."

Some residents said they applaud law enforcement and government officials who have worked to get the law breakers off the street.

"I think our government and law enforcement are doing the best they can do in situations like this. What happened was unforeseen and is hard to control. Unfortunately, you can’t ban people from coming here and you never know the type of people who choose to vacation here," Hooker said. "These people don’t follow rules or laws. Their sole intention is to break the law and cause havoc. Our local law enforcement did the best they could, giving the hand they were dealt and I, for one, commend them for doing so."

However, other residents believe that more needs to be done by government and law enforcement officials. Panama City Beach resident Franis Vanzuela said she wants to see more places close down, so the spring breakers can leave.

"I feel like (law enforcement) haven't handled it too great because there's been like a lot of people getting shot and places getting vandalized," Vanzuela said.

As spring break season continues, many fear what is to come and if law enforcement is prepared. 

"I see it getting worse because law enforcement can't keep up with the crowd," Crockett said.

Regardless, residents can agree on one thing: They never want to experience this nightmare again.

"Honestly, I was blown away. I still can't wrap my head around it," Hooker said. "I felt unsafe in a place that I have called home for many years and that is a horrible feeling."