From the looks of it, every single person in Cleveland turned out for the city’s first world championship parade in more than 50 years on Wednesday.
The once title thirsty city celebrated the NBA champion Cavaliers with a nearly two-mile parade that saw crowds at some points about 40 or 50 people deep.
Some people scaled a parking garage to get a glimpse of the hoops heroes as they came by. Some people also climbed on signs and atop the small shelters at bus stops.
Tens of thousands more gathered at Mall B outside the Greater Cleveland Convention Center.
The day was not without its problems. A woman was shot twice in the leg in an incident near the parade route, police said on Twitter. Her wounds were non-life-threatening and a suspect had been detained.
Also, at least four people were injured, Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia of the Cleveland Police said, when the bus shelter they were standing on broke. They were hospitalized but their conditions were not known, although Ciaccia said there were no fatalities.
The Greater Cleveland metropolitan area has 2.9 million people, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. It seemed as if many of them were at the parade.
Ciaccia told CNN the police department didn’t have a crowd estimate.
Several times the vehicles in the parade had to stop as people swamped the streets.
At another moment NBA Finals Most Valuable Player LeBron James posed near a huge banner that showed the hometown legend with his arms outstretched.
The temperature was in the low 80s and the fire department helped cool of some fans who felt hot after standing out in the sun for hours.
The police department tweeted that it had set up an area where lost children were being taken and asked other parade-goers to keep a lookout for any who were separated from their parents.
The city was celebrating its first world title since the Cleveland Browns won the NFL Championship in 1964.
