Police have arrested over a dozen people and are searching for more suspects who took part in a mass brawl in South Jersey over the weekend. Cellphone videos show a large crowd of people before a fight broke out in Gloucester Township causing an event to end early. NBC10’s Siobhan McGirl has more from police and an eyewitness.
17 people have been arrested after a mass brawl broke out in South Jersey with hundreds of people.
Law enforcement officials in Gloucester Township, New Jersey, have shared images of a person they are seeking after hundreds of people, allegedly, fought in a mass brawl that spread from a park where the community's annual Gloucester Township Day event was being held on Saturday, to a nearby shopping center parking lot.
On Wednesday morning, officials released an image of a man that, they claim, assaulted an officer during that incident which they say occurred on June 1, at 9:54 p.m. Police said they were working to disperse a crowd at Urge Fitness located across from the Gloucester Township Day Festivities on Chews Landing Road.
There were more than 500 young people gathered, police said.
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“We do believe that it was through TikTok through social media that it went out and they all started to draw here," Police Chief David Harkins with the Gloucester Township police department said.
As they worked to disperse the crowd, the unidentified suspect refused to follow police commands and struck an officer when confronted, investigators said.
Police officials say the suspected attacker struck the officer "with a closed fist several times before being sprayed with pepper spray." He then fled from the scene, according to investigators.
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The individual, police said, was able to elude officers as he ran through the crowd.
Officials said he is only one of "many" suspects in the incident that the police hope to identify.
“Lawlessness and violence from young people towards each other as well as towards the officers was something that I haven’t seen before," Police Chief Harkins said.
Several people were injured, including police. One officer was even hit by a man on a bike.
“Groups of kids running, jumping on cars, I seen a girl get knocked down and tramped on," Debbie Ryan, a witness, said.
Officials are calling this individual "Suspect 001" and said they plan to release information on additional individuals "in the upcoming weeks."
“We’re going back. We’re going to hold them accountable. Identify them and charge them for the mayhem that they caused here," Harkins said.
Police officials are asking anyone who may be able to provide information on this individual to submit a tip anonymously to https://gtpolice.com/tips or email them to Police@GTPolice.com.
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