Authorities have arrested 12 people and may cuff even more following a sprawling brawl on a Connecticut beach that was immediately followed by a nearby shooting.
An estimated 2,000 people descended on West Haven Beach around 3 p.m. Monday for a party advertised on social media, local ABC affiliate WTNH reported. Many of the partygoers were teenagers and young adults.
The massive gathering of youngsters quickly got out of hand, and cops responded to multiple fights on the beach, according to NBC affiliate WVIT.
“I was very, very upset that when people who were coming here to enjoy the beach left because of this,” West Haven Police Chief Joseph Perno said Monday, according to the Hartford Courant. “It was very upsetting to see that. Parents, people were walking their dogs, and then they had to leave because of this nonsense.”
Police said one officer who responded to the scene suffered minor injuries but is expected to be OK. Five people were detained on the beach.
As cops were clearing the coast, gunshots were fired near a gas station just a few blocks away, according to WTNH. However, police did not say if the two incidents were connected.
The gunfire came from a car carrying seven juveniles, cops said. The bullets struck the windshield of a man’s car, and he was hospitalized due to non-life-threatening facial injuries from either bullet or glass fragments, the Courant reported.
Cops eventually caught up with the seven minors and found a gun in their vehicle, according to the Courant. All seven kids were arrested, and another officer was injured at that scene, police said.
Authorities have not publicly identified any of the 12 arrestees, but did emphasize that the investigation was ongoing and more people could be arrested.
“No unlawful or disruptive behavior will be allowed on our shore,” Perno said Tuesday. “It will be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law.”
