Officers fired pepperballs to control a crowd in a University of Dayton student area on Sunday night after a holiday block party got out of hand.
“We all just came to have a fun night and hang out with our friends,” says John, a UD student.
University and Dayton police responded to Kiefaber Street to deal with “a few fights” in a large crowd. University officials said there were students and non-students in the group.
>>RELATED: UD students are reminded to report suspicious behavior after Sunday’s block party
Then some students said that the night quickly became chaotic.
“Because someone said someone pulled out a gun. And the whole street ran. It cleaned up the street,” said Garret Hoeft, a senior at UD.
“The next thing we know everyone is just running. We don’t really know what happened,” added Charlie, also a UD student.
911 callers reported the same thing.
Including a woman who said she hid under a car.
UD said officers investigated reports of someone with a gun but found no suspect or weapon.
At one point, University and Dayton Police officers broke up the crowd.
UD said officers arrested two people, including a student.
A relief for students after a hectic night on campus.
“We are all fine now. I don’t think anyone was hurt. But it was really frightening. All my friends were really shocked,” said Hoeft.
Students said this was not the first time they had seen something like this.
“This is my fourth year here. The first thing that comes to mind is last year, on St. Paddy’s Day, when a group of people overturned a car and we were stopped by the police,’ Hoeft said.
>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: “Everyone was running, it was crazy;” UD students react after the party on campus got out of hand
News Center 7 previously reported that the police arrested seventeen people during that incident, including four UD students.
In March 2020, police launched pepper balls at students who gathered on a weeknight. UD had just said it would cancel classes until at least early April due to COVID-19.
>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Police launch ‘pepper balls’ at UD students who are partying in the student neighbourhood
UD told News Center 7 that students jumped on cars and threw bottles into the street and at police.
In March 2018, police again cleared a large crowd blocking Lowes Street.
No one was arrested, but afterwards the president of the university said he had witnessed people attacking police officers and throwing objects at them.
News Center 7’s John Bedell requested a camera spokesperson for the university, but received no response.
We will continue to be in touch and informed if we receive a response to our request.
