Police made at least seven arrests and at least several police officers were injured in Florida after a weekend block party attended by 3,000 people went out of control, according to reports and video.
The block party was being held for a man who was murdered in 2008, but a video released by the Volusia Sheriff’s Office showing the masses attending the block party on Saturday and Sunday in Deland, Florida, showed “things getting out of hand as day turned to night,” the New York Post reported.
The West Volusia Beacon reported that although Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’s executive order advises against large gatherings due to the coronavirus pandemic, no law is in place prohibiting such crowds.
The gatherings were held to remember Kenya Alexander, who was killed in 2008, according to the Beacon.
Police said they faced several obstacles in trying to control the crowd during the mayhem.
Some of the issues law enforcement had to face include: “a long gun pointed out of the passenger window of a passing vehicle, a loaded gun handed off from one convicted felon to another, agitated crowds of bystanders and bottles, and jars and bar stools used against law enforcement as weapons or projectiles,” the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said in a release.
One deputy suffered a minor knee injury, and a police officer suffered a minor head injury when he was pelted in the head with the jar, WFTV reported. A 34-year-old man from Orlando was shot in the foot and got admitted to the hospital.
Alphonso Parker, 27, and Charles Turner, 37, were two of the men arrested in the shooting, charged with resisting an officer without violence, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and inciting a riot, WKMG reported.
“Overall, deputies conducted 12 traffic stops, issued five citations, towed five vehicles, made seven arrests, recovered two firearms, some narcotics and $3,840 in cash,” Volusia County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Andrew Gant said.
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