Large crowds of juveniles cause chaos near Temple University, five people assaulted, officials say
There were multiple arrests as a result of the gathering by as many as 1,000 young people near Temple's campus, officials said.
Hundreds of young people — as many as 1,000 — caused chaos near Temple University’s campus over the weekend, and at least five people were assaulted and more than seven arrests were made, police and university officials said.
Temple University police were in the area of Broad Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue around 7 p.m. Saturday as a group of young people gathered there, said Jennifer Griffin, Temple’s vice president of public safety, and Jodi Bailey Accavallo, Temple’s vice president for student affairs, in a joint letter to students Sunday.
Campus police and city police officers had been assigned to the area because many public schools were on spring break, officials said.
At first, the throngs of young people remained orderly, but they soon became unruly and Temple police called for more officers from city police to help try to disperse the crowd, Griffin said in a Monday interview.
Young people began running in and out of traffic, throwing water bottles, and getting into fights with students, said Griffin, throwing the large gathering into pandemonium.
Two Temple students were assaulted, officials said, one near Temple Towers, a student housing complex in the 1200 block of Cecil B. Moore, and the other in the area of 12th Street and Montgomery Avenue.
Both students were treated and released, said Griffin.
Two other students were pushed to the ground but did not need medical attention, officials said.
A Philadelphia police spokesperson said a large crowd of 800 to 1,000 had gathered after a party, and police made several arrests for disorderly conduct, a department spokesperson said.
Police did not say how many arrests had been made.
“Incidents like these are deeply unsettling and completely unacceptable to both the university community and our neighbors. We cannot allow this type of behavior to become normalized in the area surrounding our campus,“ John Fry, president of Temple, said in a statement issued Monday.
Fry said he would be speaking Monday evening with Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel and added that it “is imperative that we work together to identify interventions that will prevent future situations like this.”
Another large gathering of young people formed near campus Sunday night, causing more issues, Griffin said in a Monday interview.
Though Sunday night’s gathering, which formed shortly after 5:30 p.m., was smaller than Saturday’s crowd, the large group of juveniles ultimately once again caused trouble, said Griffin.
Three more people were assaulted amid the gathering, she said.
One student was assaulted during a robbery but was not injured, she said. Multiple people pushed the student to the ground and took an undisclosed amount of cash from him and fled, she said.
Temple University public safety released images of three people they say were involved in the robbery and asked anyone with information on the crime to call Temple University Police department’s investigations unit at (215) 204-7178.
Two juveniles who are not affiliated with the university were also assaulted, said Griffin.
Temple University Police arrested seven people Sunday night and continue to investigate the weekend’s incidents, she said.
Young people often gather near Temple’s campus in public spaces, Griffin said, and stay orderly in most cases. Temple public safety tries to anticipate these large gatherings by monitoring social media for meetups, she said.
Temple Police, she said, did not have advance notice of the weekend’s activity.
But the issue is one that is not isolated to the area near Temple’s campus, said Griffin, and the university’s public safety department is working with city police and community groups to try to prevent the gatherings from becoming unsafe.
“This is a larger issue that all of us have a responsibility for safety,“ said Griffin. ”We encourage parents to know where their children are, to follow their social media, because really this is a challenging situation that isn’t just going to be solved by one strategy. We need everybody to be involved and help us."
Anyone with information is asked to call Philadelphia Central Detectives at 215-686-3093 or the department’s tip line at 215-686-8477.