Title: "It was just crazy": Two shot after 200-300 juveniles riot on Delmar Loop Source:
BND.com URL Source:http://www.bnd.com/2012/04/02/21250 ... just-crazy-two-shot-after.html Published:Apr 2, 2012 Author:KSDK Post Date:2012-04-03 00:42:44 by Hondo68 Keywords:Churchs Fried Chicken, 17 year old shot in the abdome, 19 year old was shot Views:1413 Comments:3
"It was just crazy. I never seen anything like this before," said Cameron Ashkar, who lives on the Delmar Loop.
He was walking by the Shell gas station around 9 p.m. Saturday and says he saw fighting and even caught some of it on camera.
"It was scary but also a little exciting because I knew I was going to get some cool footage," said Ashkar.
Police say 200-300 juveniles gathered in the area of Skinker and Delmar. Officers in the area attempted to break the group up. The group moved toward Enright then gathered in the 700 block of Skinker. Police say fights broke out and one person fired shots into the air. Additional city officers and officers from surrounding municipalities responded and the group scattered. Police say it took about 40 minutes to clear the area.
Police say one person was arrested for Peace Disturbance and one person was arrested for a traffic violation after attempting to drive through an area officers had blocked off. A juvenile was also cited for Peace Disturbance and remanded to the custody of a guardian.
Police say there were no injuries reported and the investigation is ongoing.
Ashkar said it looked like a riot.
Around 11 p.m. Saturday NewsChannel5 was interviewing a woman in front of Church's Fried Chicken when shots were fired. The incident was caught on camera and teenagers were seen running.
Police say two teenagers were shot and are in stable condition. They say a 17 year old was shot in the abdomen and a 19 year old was shot under the armpit.
"(From) A business owners perspective it was disappointing. I mean yes I don't want people to be afraid to come down into the University City Loop," said Ryan Pinkston, an owner of Three Kings Public House.
About one year ago, a similar incident took place in the Delmar Loop but, witnesses describe Saturday night's incident as "much worse."
Since April 2011 business owners, city leaders, and police have been working on ways to curb the inappropriate behavior.
Joe Edwards, the owner of Blueberry Hill, the Moonrise Hotel, and several other businesses on the Delmar Loop says Saturday night was, "a difficult bump in the progress. It's really frustrating and it makes me sad that it happened because it affects so many people's livelihoods and so many people's perception of St. Louis in general let alone just the Loop."
Police say have not made any arrests in the shooting incident.