AndrewBlakeMorgan Hill, CA – Seven police officers were assaulted when a group of more than 200 teenagers became totally out of control at a school carnival on Friday (video below).
The Morgan Hill Police Department had officers assigned to patrol the Home and School Club Carnival, which was held at Britton Middle School on April 27, The Mercury News reported.
At about 5:48 pm, school officials told officers about a teenage boy at the carnival who reportedly had a knife.
Police located the suspect waiting in line for a carnival ride, and took him into custody without incident.
Then officers learned the identity of another juvenile who had given the knife to the boy. Police were told that teen had caused a disturbance at the event earlier in the day, and had been asked to leave, The Mercury News reported.
Police located that juvenile and attempted to approach him, but the teenage boy wasn’t having any of it, KGO-TV reported.
Morgan Hill Police Department Spokesman Troy Hoefling told KSBW-TV that the young man took a fighting stance and told officers that he wanted to fight before being arrested.
More officers arrived, and police were able to take the teenage boy into custody.
But then two more boys attacked the police officers, and a near riot broke out, according to The Mercury News.
A crowd of more than 200 teenagers formed, and multiple juveniles confronted the officers and refused to leave, according to KGO.
Officers were attacked, getting punched repeatedly by people in the mob.
Officers called for backup as the chaos grew and several other police agencies responded to assist in getting the situation under control.
There were 59 law enforcement officers at the scene by the time the melee was shut down, KGO reported.
Police said several people, including juveniles, displayed gang signs, shouted gang slogans, and were wearing gang clothing during the riot.
Eight juveniles between the ages of 13 and 17 were arrested at the scene, KGO reported.
The various teens faced charges of inciting a riot, trying to take a person from lawful custody, possession of a knife, assaulting an officer, and threatening to kill an officer, according to KSBW.
All eight teenagers who were arrested were booked into Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall.
Several of the officers suffered minor injuries in the altercation.
The carnival was scheduled to run through Sunday, but school officials shut it down after the riot-like incident on Friday.
Watch video from the incident below: