"Several Hundred" People Involved in Green Bay Fight
Updated: Jun 09, 2014 6:45 PM EDT
Green Bay - Green Bay police and city leaders are furious after a huge fight involving hundreds of people downtown this weekend. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Why are the "feelings" of these local officials relevant to the story?]
Police say the first call came in just after two Sunday morning for a man waving a gun in a large crowd.
"The first responding officer found a lot of people out in the street, fights going on all over... called for help," says Police Captain Jim Runge.
Police say it escalated quickly. Within minutes, they say, there were "several hundred" people in fights up and down Washington Street.
"There were multiple brawls, pushing, shoving, fights amongst all kinds of people. Why? I don't know. I'm sure alcohol had a big part of it," says Runge. [You think?!]
He says police had to call in dozens of officers and squads from all over the county, including Ashwaubenon Public Safety, De Pere Police Department, and the Brown County Sheriff's Office. They contained the crowd quickly.
So far, three people have been arrested for disorderly conduct and weapons charges.
"Officers are continuously updating their threat assessment. A weapon brings it up here. A gun... that's about as high as you can get. Now throw that into a crowd of hundreds," says Runge.
He says, according to the officer's reports, in the middle of it all several people grabbed cell phones and started getting close to the officers to take video.
Runge says that made it difficult for officers to break up fights and make arrests.
"Let me make myself clear. People are certainly allowed to watch police do their job. They're certainly allowed to videotape police doing their job. They are not allowed to interject themselves or get into the face of the officers while they're doing their job. They're not allowed to involve themselves into that incident," Runge stressed.
The fight itself has downtown leaders upset, too.
"It is clearly not characteristic about what our downtown really represents. I think what we all need is to expect more responsibility from the patrons who come to the downtown. This is not tolerated, more responsibility from the entertainment district," says Jeff Mirkes, Executive Director of Downtown Green Bay Inc.
"I can't emphasize enough, this is not typical downtown Green Bay -- but this is a very significant event that just cannot be allowed to happen again. It won't happen again," urges Runge.
Police are still investigating.
Police say the first call came in just after two Sunday morning for a man waving a gun in a large crowd.
"The first responding officer found a lot of people out in the street, fights going on all over... called for help," says Police Captain Jim Runge.
Police say it escalated quickly. Within minutes, they say, there were "several hundred" people in fights up and down Washington Street.
"There were multiple brawls, pushing, shoving, fights amongst all kinds of people. Why? I don't know. I'm sure alcohol had a big part of it," says Runge. [You think?!]
He says police had to call in dozens of officers and squads from all over the county, including Ashwaubenon Public Safety, De Pere Police Department, and the Brown County Sheriff's Office. They contained the crowd quickly.
So far, three people have been arrested for disorderly conduct and weapons charges.
"Officers are continuously updating their threat assessment. A weapon brings it up here. A gun... that's about as high as you can get. Now throw that into a crowd of hundreds," says Runge.
He says, according to the officer's reports, in the middle of it all several people grabbed cell phones and started getting close to the officers to take video.
Runge says that made it difficult for officers to break up fights and make arrests.
The fight itself has downtown leaders upset, too.
"It is clearly not characteristic about what our downtown really represents. I think what we all need is to expect more responsibility from the patrons who come to the downtown. This is not tolerated, more responsibility from the entertainment district," says Jeff Mirkes, Executive Director of Downtown Green Bay Inc.
"I can't emphasize enough, this is not typical downtown Green Bay -- but this is a very significant event that just cannot be allowed to happen again. It won't happen again," urges Runge.
Police are still investigating.
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