Long Beach police detain teens after massive brawl

Long Beach neighbors said what started as a peaceful celebration marking the end of the school year turned into a brawl that ended with some teens being detained by police.

"The whole parking lot over there was packed, and then not only just over there, but there's a whole bunch through the neighborhood too," neighbor Charles Cobb said.

Cobb lives across the street from where the brawl happened. 

"I was happy to see them all here at first," Cobb said. "It looked like they were all having a good time. But then, once it started getting out of hand, just a poor representation for us."

Around 7 p.m. on Thursday, the Long Beach Police Department responded to the area of Bayshore Avenue and Ocean Boulevard, where they found a crowd of about 200 teens. 

Police said they tried to disperse the group. At one point, a fight broke out and officers also received a report of a person with a gun. 

"My aunt and uncle just came in, and they were telling us about how one of the kids they had like a gun," resident Jackson Rieser said. "They ran down the street and were like looking at them through the car. They saw the gun in hand."

Long Beach PD said officers drew their weapons and detained several people while they investigated the report, but determined they were not armed. 

Around 10 p.m. that same night, officers said they made several announcements to enforce the curfew, but some people refused to leave. 

Police cited five teens before they were released to their parents. 

"To be honest, not crazy worried," Rieser said. "For the most part, it's normally pretty chill around here."

Police Chief Wally Hebeish said incidents like this stretch resources thin and divert officers from responding to other emergency calls. He added that violent behavior and other law violations will not be tolerated. 

"I think it's very irresponsible," resident Erick Rodriguez said. "Go to the theme park. Pick up a sport. Go to the beach. Something productive instead of going out and causing trouble."

No arrests were made. Police said there was a report of an attempted robbery, but the person decided not to press charges. 

Long Beach PD said it will increase patrols in the area throughout the weekend.