ORANGE, Conn. (AP) — An Easter egg hunt organizer compared pushy parents to locusts after the hunt turned into a shoving match at the visitor center of candy company Pez.

Saturday's event in Orange, Connecticut, drew hundreds of people, some of whom ignored the rules and didn't wait for the starting time.

Pez General Manager Shawn Peterson told WFSB-TV (http://bit.ly/1WQRcbr) that people "rushed the field and took everything."

Event organizers placed more than 9,000 eggs on three fields with the intention of having staggered start times for each age group. But Pez officials say parents didn't wait.

Peterson said the crowd was "kind of like locusts."

Pez in a statement apologized for "an unfortunate situation" and said the actions of a few turned the event into "a mess."

No injuries were reported.