A Fourth of July gathering in North Charleston turned chaotic after police said a crowd of teenagers attacked two South Carolina officers who were trying to break up a dangerous scene involving reported gunfire and fireworks being shot toward cars.
The confrontation happened around 8:30 p.m. in the Chicora-Cherokee neighborhood, according to the North Charleston Police Department, as officers moved in to shut down the Independence Day celebration.
“We need some help,” North Charleston Police Chief Ron Camacho pleaded with the public. “We really do. We need some help from the community. Because stuff like this is getting dangerous.”
City officials said the event had initially been permitted, and organizers had met with the city earlier in the day to discuss plans for parking and traffic control.
By nightfall, however, police said the celebration had escalated into a hazardous situation, with reports of shots fired and fireworks being launched at passing vehicles.
Officers first attempted to disperse the crowd, authorities said, but those efforts were ignored as fights broke out among attendees and additional gunfire was reported.
The situation intensified when officers got out of their patrol cars to intervene in the fighting, only to become targets themselves, according to police.
Several officers were assaulted during the disorder, including two who were knocked to the ground and stomped by a group of teenagers, police said. Video of the incident was obtained by WSCS.
Footage shows one cop struggling with a youth who pushes her to the ground, before a friend socks the officer in the face and another hits her with a stick.
A fellow officer comes to his colleague’s rescue and pulls the unruly youth off his coworker, but is attacked by other youths, tasering one to disperse the growing crowd around him, video shows.
Police said that four people – three juveniles and one adult – were arrested at the scene.
Four guns, including two automatic weapons, and a homemade spear were also recovered from the scene of the party, cops said.
Chief Camacho blasted the adolescents during a press conference Sunday, saying their behavior was “the most difficult thing that I’ve had to deal with in my policing career.”
Camacho also called on the community to cooperate with the department and keep the unruly kids in line.
