Memorial Day weekend festivities were interrupted on the boardwalk in Ocean City, New Jersey, when a teenager in a crowd was stabbed, causing people to flee the area in panic.
Police said that officers responded to reports of a fight along the boardwalk between 9th and 10th streets on Saturday night, to search for the 15-year-old boy after he had been stabbed by an unknown assailant.
“We have a highly qualified team of officers on the boardwalk and throughout town, and they will enforce all laws to the fullest,” Ocean City Mayor Jay A. Gillian said in a statement. “Ocean City will always be welcoming to all guests, but I want to send a clear message to parents and teens: ‘If you don’t want to behave, don’t come.”
“Our officers made multiple arrests last night and were able to quickly restore order to the Boardwalk once the teens involved in these incidents were removed,” Mayor Gillian added.
After the assault, the boy was transported to a nearby hospital, and his injuries were determined to be non life-threatening, officials reported on Sunday.
In a video taken by a beach goer after the stabbing at about 9:10 p.m., crowds of people can be seen running frantically along 12th street, down the ramp away from the boardwalk.
Meanwhile, public panic erupted in another part of the garden state.
In Southern Cape May County, the Wildwood Police Department declared a state of emergency just after midnight Monday due to “numerous incidents of civil unrest.” However, they rescinded the order hours later, but did not disclose if anyone had been arrested in the press release.
An investigation into the Ocean City incident in still ongoing, according to police officials. Authorities are asking anyone with information that can further assist in the probe to contact the Ocean City Police Department’s Detective Bureau at (609) 525-9129.
