Marion calls for police assistance (updated 12:22 p.m.)
Published 9:15 am Monday, August 24, 2009
Selma Times-Journal reporter Barrett Welch has called in from Marion, where a crowd disturbance there Monday morning had police calling for assistance from authorities in surrounding cities and counties and Alabama State Troopers.
Police have arrested five individuals. It’s uncertain if more arrests are forthcoming.
Sources on the scene told Welch two families began fighting over the weekend at a football game. The fight spilled over Monday morning at Francis Marion High School.
A large crowd of about 150 people wielding baseball bats and broomsticks showed up on Martin Luther King Memorial Drive at the police department after several people were asked by authorities to come to the department downtown.
At the moment, the crowd seems to have settled down and about 30 people remain in the area. More than 50 law enforcement officers, many carrying automatic weapons, responded to Marion’s call for help.
More details as Welch calls in later this afternoon.