The University of Maryland police chief tells News4 the department is trying to determine if officers should have used pepper spray to break up a party on campus. News4’s Darcy Spencer reports.
Videos posted to social media show people screaming and frantically running out of an apartment in College Park, Maryland, after University of Maryland police used pepper spray to break up a party early Saturday morning.
University police said officers were called to The Courtyards, located at 8500 block of Boteler Lane, around 1:45 a.m. after receiving a call about a loud party and a possible fight at the on-campus apartments.
When officers arrived, a person said there was a fight inside an apartment and someone may have had a baseball bat, according to police.
Officers told the partygoers numerous times to leave the apartment, but not everyone complied, police said. Officers used pepper spray to disperse the crowd.
Two people, Brittney Hunter, 21, of Waldorf, and Montee Hunter, 20, of Capitol Heights, were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct, failure to obey lawful order and obstructing and hindering, police said. It's not clear if they have hired attorneys.
The fire department arrived to treat the people sprayed, police said.
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As medics were providing care, a confrontation broke out in the parking lot outside the apartment complex, and officers used pepper spray a second time, police said.
University of Maryland Police Chief David Mitchell told News4's Darcy Spencer on Sunday the incident is cause for concern.
"First of all, let me say I'm very concerned about the perception that my students have of what happened," Mitchell said. "So far, what I see causes me concern — in some cases, on both sides. Students who just should have just left and perhaps we could've performed better in a couple instances."
Mitchell said several officers were wearing body cameras and the department expects to release some of that video.
"Of course, the question is, was this reasonable use of pepper spray?" Mitchell said.
The University of Maryland Police Department released a statement Sunday night saying police had completed an initial review of the incident an "a formal investigation is now underway to determine if the use of force was appropriate."
"President Loh and Chief Mitchell are committed to a complete and transparent investigation to determine the facts of the incident," the statement continued.
Video on Twitter from a person at the party shows the moment when pepper spray was used by officers.
