More than 400 teenagers take over Pittsburgh park, prompting police to use pepper spray

More than 400 teenagers took over a park in Pittsburgh's East Liberty neighborhood on Wednesday night, sending a nearby Target into lockdown while officers used pepper spray to break up the crowd, authorities said. 

According to investigators, hundreds of teenagers took over Liberty Green Park around 7:50 p.m. A supervisor said there was a large disorderly crowd and called for help.

To break up the gathering, police said they told people to leave three times, 10 minutes apart. Police recommended that the nearby Target go on a temporary lockdown to prevent the group from taking over.

Police said after the group didn't leave by around 8:30 p.m., three officers used pepper spray to disperse the crowd. By 10:15 p.m., only 25 kids were still in the area. Investigators said there were no arrests.  

It's the latest issue in the trend of so-called "teen takeovers." Councilman Khari Mosley is calling for a safety street team to prevent issues before they become a problem. He said the majority of the kids at these takeovers are from areas outside the city.

Neighbor Lonnie Banks, who lives across the street, said most of the kids came from the nearby bus stop. He said it doesn't take much to turn any large gathering into chaos, and his family is "sick of it." 

"You don't know what's going on," Banks said. "They're running here. They're running there. You see them coming from this way, they're coming from that way, they're coming from this way, they're just coming from all angles. It's definitely overwhelming for adults and our kids."

Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O'Connor wants people to enjoy public spaces, but says this nationwide trend of takeovers can escalate and become unsafe. He blames it on "a handful of kids that take it to an extreme level."

"I think providing kids with safe spaces, providing them with opportunity is one thing, but then also, making sure that we have accountability in the future as well," O'Connor said.

Banks feels this is a start but said it takes more than just elected leaders to fix this.

"The adults have to come together," Banks said. "Us as parents, as adults, we've got to police our children."