Busker reports being attacked with own fire sticks during street performance in Lawrence

A street performer reported that he was charged at and attacked with his own fire sticks over the weekend — notably, Busker Fest weekend — in Lawrence.

The 39-year-old man told police that “an acquaintance of his charged at him while he was performing, grabbed one of his fire sticks and started swinging it at him,” Kim Murphree of the Lawrence Police Department said, in an email response to the Journal-World. “The victim reported that the man struck him with the stick in the back and then in the head.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, Murphree said, police officers had not yet spoken with the suspect. She said the victim refused medical treatment at the scene but indicated that he planned to go to the hospital on his own later.

I’m not sure this happened during an officially sanctioned Lawrence Busker Festival act, or some kind of late-night spillover sideshow.

This incident was reported just after 11 p.m. Friday at 721 East Ninth St., which is east of downtown in the area known as the Warehouse Arts District. The official Lawrence Busker Festival website billed street performances Friday evening through Sunday afternoon at several stages in downtown Lawrence.

— I’m the Journal-World’s public safety reporter. Reach me by email at sshepherd@ljworld.com or by phone at 785-832-7187. I’m also on Twitter, @saramarieshep.

COMMENTS

Welcome to the new LJWorld.com. Our old commenting system has been replaced with Facebook Comments. There is no longer a separate username and password login step. If you are already signed into Facebook within your browser, you will be able to comment. If you do not have a Facebook account and do not wish to create one, you will not be able to comment on stories.