A house party on the 1100 block of Church Street Sunday night turned violent as a group of young men attempting to enter began throwing punches and hitting people with a shovel – resulting in the hospitalization of two victims.
Ann Arbor Police confirmed that a confrontation concerning entrance into the party at 1105 Church Street escalated into a bloody fight, and an investigation is currently underway.
Witnesses said that at around 1 a.m. Monday morning, the party hosted by the Pi Lambda Phi Fraternity was at its maximum capacity and sober monitors were keeping people from entering the house.
Engineering sophomore Sean Grant was one of the many people on the front porch at the time, waiting to enter the party.
Grant said a group of four or five young males was waiting in line as well, and that they had been trying to get into the party throughout the night.
“They were just waiting outside,” Grant said. “They weren’t even saying much. Then, they just started throwing punches.”
Grant said there was a sudden burst of violence, as the group of young men began punching others on the porch.
But the violence was one-sided, according to Grant.
“No one really understood what the fight was about,” Grant said. “If the Pi-Lamb guys threw any punches, it was in self-defense. They were trying to stop the fight.”
Grant said one member of the group of men who had been standing in line came onto the porch with a shovel and began swinging at both sober monitors and the front door of the house.
AAPD Sgt. Craig Flocken said that a curved metal digging shovel was used by one of the assailants, causing the most damage to both victims and the front door.
Grant said that after a few moments of violence, the group stopped and ran off.
“After they did their damage, they took off,” Grant said. “They ran so fast.”
Business sophomore Andrew Rubin said he was inside the house at the time the confrontation began.
Rubin said he stepped outside when he heard yelling at the front of the house. When he went to see what was happening, Rubin said he saw punches being thrown and a man hitting people with a shovel.
“They meant for people to get hurt,” Rubin said. “It looked pretty brutal.”
Flocken confirmed that multiple people sustained injuries from the fight, and two went to the University Hospital to receive medical attention.
A member of the Pi Lambda Phi Fraternity, who wished to remain anonymous, said he was inside the house when he saw the fight break out. When he went outside to try to stop the violence, he said he was hit a couple of times with others’ fists and once in the head with the shovel.
The member of Pi Lambda Phi said he and one other victim went to the hospital to receive medical attention for their wounds. He received three staples in his head and has a broken nose. He said the other victim had 12 stitches above his eyebrow for a wound from the shovel as well.
Flocken said two persons of interest were arrested concerning the incident but were released later that night pending further investigation.