By Associated Press
Huntsville AL – A fight between two women turned into a melee at Oakwood College, police said, with 16 individuals under arrest after hundreds of people allegedly confronted officers who broke up the altercation.
Two officers suffered minor injuries in the fracas, which began late Saturday, and authorities said Monday they were still sorting out what happened at the small college.
"I don't even know what started it yet," Huntsville police spokesman Wendell Johnson said. "It was a major disturbance so we have a stack of incident reports and arrest reports to go through."
Johnson said he wasn't sure how many of those arrested were students. He said 15 adults and one juvenile were booked on various charges including disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and harassment, while four were charged with felony assault for allegedly attacking police officers.
Officials at the school had no immediate comment.
Johnson said officers were at the Oakwood gymnasium for a basketball game when a fight broke out between two women about 11:45 p.m. Saturday. One of the women, an 18-year-old student, was arrested by an off-duty Huntsville Police officer and placed inside a police car.
"That's when several hundred individuals circled a Huntsville police car trying to get the girl out of the police car," he said.
With students beating and rocking the car, Johnson said the officer sprayed a chemical irritant into the crowd in an attempt to get people to leave. Other officers arrived as a backup, he said.
Oakwood administrators held a closed-door meeting with students on Sunday, but neither President Delbert W. Baker nor a school spokeswoman immediately returned messages seeking comment.
Oakwood, a private school affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist church, has 1,824 students. It plans to change its name to Oakwood University on Jan. 1.
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Information from: The Huntsville Times, http://www.al.com/hsvtimes/hsv.html