Brawl at Lafayette church community center injures five

Tools

By Beth Boehne

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Three people were cut by knives when a brawl broke out during a church community center's open gym session, police said.

The fight at Faith Community Center started Monday night on a basketball court and spilled into a lobby, where about 20 people fought and some furniture was thrown, according to the Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Department.

Officers found two knives at the scene and arrested two men on preliminary felony charges of criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon and battery with a deadly weapon.

Deputy Donald Miller said 12 people were taken from the gym to the sheriff's department for questioning.

The fight started when a group of men confronted some of those playing basketball, said Arvid Olson, the center's development director.

"They took the brick door stopper and threw it at someone's leg," he said.

An off-duty state trooper and center volunteers broke up the fight. County deputies, Lafayette police officers and troopers helped separate the groups. A total of five people suffered minor injuries.

Olson said the gym is open to the community until 9:30 p.m. on Mondays.

Most of the people who use it are not church members, volunteer Bill Strunk said.

"The people here playing were just so upset this happened," he said. "They couldn't believe a fight would happen here."

___

Information from: Journal and Courier, http://www.jconline.com

Add a comment

Name:

Comment: 500 Characters Left

Comments are moderated and will not appear on this story until after they have been reviewed and deemed appropriate for posting.

WSBT and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the above comments or other interaction among the users. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any Public Forum.

WSBT Weather

icon
74
°
More Weather
More On Demand

Stock Quotes

This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.

Tonight On WSBTFull Schedule

7.00
Wheel of Fortune
7.30
Jeopardy!
8.00
Ghost Whisperer
9.00
Numb3rs
10.00
Swingtown
11.00
WSBT News
11.35
Late Show with David Letterman

Question of The Day

What do you think of John McCain's VP choice?

E-mail your comments. We'll pick some to read during WSBT News at 5:30.