NEW YORK – Fights between fans during a championship high school basketball game at Madison Square Garden turned into a melee that spilled into the streets and subways, drawing police on horseback and in riot gear.
Gunfire was heard as the crowd went from the arena to Times Square, but no injuries were reported, police said.
Twenty-one people, mostly teenagers, were arrested, police said. Some were charged with disorderly conduct or resisting arrest and one was arrested on a riot charge.
A 17-year-old male was arrested at a subway station on a charge of criminal possession of a weapon. He was not the one who fired the shots, police said.
A WCBS-TV camera crew inside the arena caught images of fights breaking out in the stands, including a girl slapping a boy, who in turn swung around and hit her. Other boys jumped him, and police broke up the fight.
The WCBS-TV footage also showed police swinging batons at someone who cannot be seen, and the station reported that they were hitting a fan. The police said the incident was under investigation, but had no further comment on the footage.
After the crowd left the Garden, dozens of officers were dispatched, some on horseback and others in riot gear. Several fights broke out in nearby subways.
The Public Schools Athletic League's AA division city championship high school basketball game was between Brooklyn rivals Lincoln and Boys & Girls.
The fights started in the third quarter, distracting and displacing many in the crowd of thousands, the New York Times said Monday. Lincoln won 77-50.