11 people arrested and 3 police officers injured after fights broke out at Gloucester Township Day event on Saturday

Eleven people were arrested and three police officers injured in Gloucester Township after hundreds of “unruly” young people gathered at a community event on Saturday.

As attendees waited for a drone light show at the annual Gloucester Township Day event at Veterans Park, security officers noticed an influx of teens and young adults being dropped off, Gloucester Township police said in a news release. A crowd of about 500 people gathered in the basketball court area, and around 8:40 p.m., large groups began fighting with each other and running “recklessly” through the crowd.

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Officers arrested two people for disturbing the peace, but the crowd “remained hostile and disorderly.” Additional Gloucester Township police were called to the scene and surrounding Camden County police departments were requested for assistance. The drone show was started early due to the “volatile nature of the situation.”

When the light show ended, officers dispersed the crowd from the area. Large groups moved to the nearby Marketplace shopping center. There, over the next two hours, several fights broke out between teens and young adults in the mall parking lot. Authorities determined that most of the young people were not from Gloucester Township. They had been dropped off and needed a ride, police said. Many of the youths involved in the fights wore black clothing, covered their faces with hoodies, and wore medical face masks. Police and emergency services were called to the scene.

According to police, several young people reported being attacked. At least two people suffered minor injuries. Both were treated on site and handed over to their parents or guardians.

While a group of police officers were dispersing a crowd, a 33-year-old Camden man rode into them on a bicycle at a “high rate of speed.” A Gloucester Township police officer was struck in the back by the bicycle and knocked to the ground, police said. The officer suffered minor injuries and refused medical treatment at the scene. The Camden man was arrested for assault and was also charged with attempted escape for attempting to escape from handcuffs as he was being taken to police headquarters.

A second Gloucester Township police officer and a Clementon Borough police officer also suffered minor injuries while attempting to break up one of the numerous fights that broke out.

A total of two adult men and nine juveniles were arrested.

Shortly after 11 p.m. the incident was declared under control. The investigation is ongoing.

“The lawlessness of unsupervised groups of teens and young people behaving without regard for others ruined a great family-oriented event that has been held for over 40 years to raise funds for the Gloucester Township Scholarship Committee,” Gloucester Township Police Chief David Harkins said in a news release. “This type of lawlessness and violent, riotous behavior will not be tolerated and will not characterize the great community of Gloucester Township.”

The Gloucester Township Day riots by groups of young people came about a week after a chaotic Memorial Day weekend in some South Jersey shore towns. Crowds of youths prompted a state of emergency that led to the closure of the Wildwood boardwalk, and a 15-year-old boy was stabbed to death on the Ocean City boardwalk.