'Senior skip day' leads to 2K seniors taking over Long Beach, causing violence and chaos with one person shot

NASSAU COUNTY, NY - Authorities with Long Beach, Long Island, said that one person has been shot after a massive, rowdy crowd of teenagers took over the beach during "senior skip day."

According to the New York Post, a swarm of more than 2,000 high school seniors cut class on Thursday, June 13th, and headed to Long Beach. By 6:00 p.m., the scene had become unruly with a fight, gunfire, and students twerking on top of a police car, which was captured on video and shared on social media.

One person was wounded by gunfire and treated at a local hospital, as reported by CBS News. Police said that the man was conscious when he let the scene, but additional information related to his injuries was not disclosed. Two people were taken into custody and the incident remains an active investigation. 

In a statement, Long Beach Acting Police Commissioner Richard DePalma said, "It appears to be a social media [event], maybe a senior cut day, and there were multiple schools on the beach, hanging out on the beach, and there were a couple of disputes within that group."

Long Beach Police (LPB) called local county police to request help in dispersing the loud, rowdy crown and finally around 7:00 p.m., the group started to disperse and that is when multiple shows were fired near the Long Island Rail Road Long Beach Station (LIRR). One witness said, "All we see is the cops come, like, really fast down the block and all you hear in like the first shot — boom. Then you here, like seven more go off. Boom, boom, boom."

Another witness said, "There was just a fight. A fight, like usual and then they started fighting, and then they started shooting. But, that's the only thing that I remember. I started running."

Police recovered a gun from the scene. Police were also seen responding to a nearby pizzeria, possibly in response to another fight, but the details on that are unknown at this time. Videos of the day and wild behavior of the teenagers were shared across social media, with one video showing hundreds of people swarming the sand and climbing a lifeguard stand.

On Friday, June 14th, DePalma told The Post, "Large events like these go from calm to chaos very quickly. We ask parents and school staff to educate your children and students, and not to encourage people to go to events like these because of the unpredictable nature of large crowds."

He said that there were no lifeguards on duty when the huge crowd showed up and took over the beach. The two teenagers who were arrested the night before have been charged with attempted assault, reckless endangerment, criminal use of a firearm, criminal possession of a firearm, and criminal possession of a large-capacity ammunition feeding device. The person who was shot was also a teenager and is in stable condition at an area hospital.

Long Beach Police are leading the investigation with the assistance of the Nassau County Police and MTA Police. LIRR service was partially disrupted between Long Beach and Island Park while police were conducting their initial investigation. 
 
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Donald

Proof positive in the words of a wise old man in 1969: The only difference between a high school senior and a college freshman is three months.

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