A teenager was stabbed during a fight on the Ocean City boardwalk on Saturday night, panicking Memorial Day weekend crowds and causing many to flee the famed oceanfront attraction, officials said
The victim, a 15-year-old male, was treated by Ocean City firefighters and brought to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City following the fight in the 1000 block of the boardwalk, at 10th Street, police said Sunday in a news statement.
The teenager suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Police were working to identify the attacker, who they described as an unknown male. The fight was reported to police around 9:12 p.m.
A social media post shows what appears to be dozens of young people running from the boardwalk and onto an unidentified street.
Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian on Sunday said police arrested multiple people Saturday night, adding order was “quickly” restored to the boardwalk once police intervened.
“I understand the impact that this behavior has on all of our residents, guests and business owners, and I want to assure everybody that Ocean City will not tolerate it,” Gillian said. “Ocean City will always be welcoming to all guests, but I want to send a clear message to parents and to teens: ‘If you don’t want to behave, don’t come.’”
Valantina Giunta, of Philadelphia, said several fights between 9th and 10th streets escalated into a brawl. Patrons on the boardwalk started taking cover in nearby stores to avoid the clashing teens, some of who she said were wearing medical and ski masks. Some doubled their efforts to conceal themselves by wearing glasses and hooded sweatshirts, she said.
Giunta was on the boardwalk with three children. At one point, her 9-year-old daughter was pushed because of the overcrowding boardwalk, she said. At another, people in the crowd began shouting that that someone was stabbed.
“We had to leave the boardwalk,” Giunta said. “They (children) were hysterically crying. I’ve been coming to Ocean City my whole life, like 37 years.”
Last Memorial Day weekend, Ocean City police issued 1,100 warnings to juveniles and received over 100 shoplifting reports. In 2022, about 600 warnings were issued and 60 shoplifters were reported. Officials afterward announced restrictions on backpacks and set an earlier summer curfew for unaccompanied minors of 11 p.m., when it was previously 1 a.m.
Officials last year said Ocean City has seen an increase in reports of underage drinking, vandalism, assaults and shoplifting, mirroring trends of other Jersey Shore towns.
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Eric Conklin may be reached at econklin@njadvancemedia.com.
