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An impromptu celebration of the Dominican Republic’s independence day involving as many as 1,500 students outside Reading High School erupted in violence Wednesday afternoon.
A city police captain was injured and at least a half-dozen students were arrested. An unruly crowd of 1,000 to 1,500 high school students blocked streets around the school and threw rocks and bottles at police when officers tried to disperse them, authorities said. Deputy Police Chief Mark E. Talbot Sr. said the violent mob was unprecedented and created one of the scariest situations he’s had in his career in Reading.
Some students hit parked cars with baseball bats, and at least one student was reported hurt after someone hit him in the head with a bat, police said.
“There was an assembly, and the kids decided to have a big celebration in the streets,” said Lt. Albert E. Evans of the patrol division, who was standing beside Kosmerl when he was attacked. “We had police outside the school like we do every day, but it got way out of hand, so we ended up sending every police officer in City Hall up there.”
Even with so many officers on hand, police had a difficult time controlling the crowd.
Police were trying only to contain the students and prevent serious violence, Evans said.
Police said school administrators and staff watched as chaos erupted outside the school and did nothing to help police struggling to control the crowd.