North Augusta officers expect to make at least one arrest and plan to interview a juvenile this week after fights broke out twice Saturday during a big tournament at Riverview Park.
A video of the evening fight posted on Facebook says the teams were part of an AAU league and involved teams from Burke and Thomson. The video shows a fight breaking out after a whistle had blown, continuing between both players and adults.
NADPS Lt. Robert Velasco says they are seeking a simple assault warrant against a parent who allegedly came out of the stands to participate in the brawl.
In an earlier fight, Lt. Velasco says the brawl erupted over a hard foul. A juvenile got pushed hard by a rival player and he straight out punched the other guy and knocked him down.
The juvenile then retreated to the bleachers and went to his gym bag. That is when everybody started running with some reporting he was getting a handgun, according to Lt. Velasco.
North Augusta police got a call about shots fired at the gym, but that was later determined to be false. The juvenile fled to Augusta before North Augusta officers could interview him or check his bag for a gun. But police expect to interview him as early as Monday.
The fights should bring serious changes to the future of basketball at Riverview Park. Already, the teams involved were kicked banned for the remainder of the weekend tournament, Lt. Velasco said.
On Monday, the command staff with North Augusta Public Safety plan to meet to talk about how to prevent the violence in the future. Lt. Velasco said there is sure to be discussions of requiring security at future tournaments.
