Teenager stabbed during fight on Ocean City, New Jersey boardwalk, police say no arrests made yet
OCEAN CITY, N.J. (CBS) -- A 15-year-old boy was stabbed while on the boardwalk Saturday night in Ocean City, New Jersey, police said Sunday.
According to Sgt. Dan Lancaster with the Ocean City Police Department, a fight broke out on the 1000 block of the boardwalk just before 9:15 p.m. on May 25. During the fight the teenager was stabbed by an "unknown" male suspect, police said.
The teen was treated at the scene by first responders and then taken to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City. Police said the 15-year-old's injuries were not life-threatening.
"As in recent years and in other shore towns, Ocean City experienced a number of issues related to large crowds of teens on the Boardwalk, fights, shoplifting and disorderly conduct during the start of Memorial Day Weekend," Ocean City Mayor Jay A. Gillian said in a statement. "I understand the impact that this behavior has on all of our residents, guests and business owners, and I want to assure everybody that Ocean City will not tolerate it."
Lancaster said Monday that the incident remains under investigation and no one's been taken into custody in connection with the stabbing yet, though on Sunday Gillian said officers made "multiple arrests" in the wake of the chaos and "were able to quickly restore order to the Boardwalk once the teens involved in these incidents were removed."
Gillian ended his statement with a clear warning to parents and teenagers: "If you don't want to behave, don't come."
According to Lancaster, there were no major incidents on the boardwalk Sunday night.
Videos of a fight involving a group of young people and of crowds frantically running off the boardwalk started circulating online following the incident Saturday night.
One mom was waiting for her daughter and her daughter's friend when the chaos erupted.
"All these kids started running, literally trampling over older adults, kids — it didn't matter, just going right through everybody," she told CBS News Philadelphia.
Trey Gibson said he was two blocks away when he saw people start running.
"I just heard a whole bunch of screaming, lots of running," Gibson said. "It was really chaotic, pretty scary if you ask me."
Ocean City has an 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew for those under 18 years old who are not accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact the OCPD detective bureau at (609) 525-9129.