GAINESVILLE, FL (352today.com) – A vigil on the University of Florida’s (UF) campus to show support for Israel Monday night ended in disarray.

Nick VanZandt, a student reporter at the College of Journalism and Communications was there to cover the event for a class assignment.

Before the madness
When he first arrived, VanZandt says there were a lot of people – some estimated the crowd size to be upward of 1,000. He says he could tell it was going to be a memorable night.

“It seemed like it was going to be a good event to go report. I was right next to Ben Sasse [the university’s president]. I was like oh, this is a massive event,” said VanZandt.

Amid the glow of candles, UF’s Jewish community gathered to “remember the victims of terror and pray for peace.” Rabbis led a spiritual service in Hebrew. UF President Ben Sasse condemned the Hamas attack on Israel and called for unity. Students with family in the Holy Land expressed concern for their loved ones and spoke about the daily fears their family members face.

Tears rolled down faces. VanZandt says he even found it hard to keep his emotions in check.

Moments later, chaos and confusion erupted.

WATCH VIDEO: Vigil for Israel on UF campus ends in chaos and injuries

“In the middle of one speaker, I just heard people screaming. I heard loud noises. I heard stomping like a stampede,” said VanZandt.

Even at 6 foot 2 inches tall, VanZandt says he got trampled and lost track of his phone in the crowd rush. He compared him trying to find his phone in the wave of people to a quarterback getting tackled and trying to find the football.

Despite the commotion, VanZandt found his phone. That’s when his journalistic training kicked in and he started capture it all.

“I began to record. People were coming straight forward. They were running past me. So, I was just dodging people,” shared VanZandt.

Initially, he says he thought that the chaos was caused by counter-protestors who came to ruin the event. He learned later that was not the case.

What happened?
Within an hour after the incident, the UF Public Safety Department posted a release on its Facebook page explaining what happened and Chief Linda J. Stump-Kurnick added more clarity in a UF Alert Campus Safety Message issued on Tuesday.

“At 8:55 p.m., a woman attending the event began to feel unwell, lost her balance, and fainted. A man next to her asked others to call 911,” said Stump-Kurnick.

She says the incident caused others nearby to panic and scatter.

“While some reportedly heard a ‘loud sound,’ our preliminary investigation was unable to confirm that,” said Stump-Kurnick. “However, no foul play or malicious intent is suspected regarding this incident.”

“This appears to be a misinterpretation by event participants who were already in a heightened state of alert, given the circumstances surrounding the vigil,” Stump-Kurnick continued.

In all, five people were treated at the scene for cuts and scrapes. A few others went to the hospital on their own accord to be treated, also for minor injuries.

On Tuesday, VanZandt wrestled with how to write the story for his journalism class assignment – balancing objectivity and his own emotion.

“It was just a very sad experience for me because it had the makings of a really nice event that got ruined because of panic,” said VanZandt. “I hope everyone is okay. All they wanted was peace.”