Security increased at Big E because of shootings elsewhere
WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — It's the opening weekend of the annual Eastern States Exposition and officials have new security measures in place at New England's largest agricultural fair.
Visitors will have to pass through metal detectors, 25 of which have been placed at the entrances to the Big E.
Security towers also have been erected around the fair to give law enforcement a better view of the grounds.
The moves are in response to mass shootings across the country, including the July shooting at a garlic festival in Gilroy, Calif., where a gunman killed three people and injured 17 and the Sept. 3 shooting that left three people injured outside the Minnesota State Fair.
More than 100,000 people were expected Saturday at the Big E, which runs through Sept. 29.
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