Teen arrested in Ocean City stabbing at the center of Memorial Day weekend boardwalk chaos
The teenager was also charged with aggravated assault and possession of a weapon. He was found by police in Pleasantville 10 days after the stabbing took place.
A teenager has been arrested and charged with attempted murder in the Ocean City stabbing that sent a stampede of Shore goers running down the boardwalk over Memorial Day weekend, officials confirmed Wednesday.
The encounter occurred after 9 p.m. on May 25, when a teenager stabbed a 15-year-old boy in the stomach near a popular amusement pier on the beach town’s boardwalk, police said, sending a hoard of people running as word of the stabbing — plus fights and a smoke bomb — spread. The 15-year-old suffered non-life-threatening injuries, said Ocean City police, and was taken to Atlantic City’s AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center.
Police identified the teenage suspect and arrested him in Pleasantville on Tuesday after having spent the previous 10 days reviewing surveillance footage and interviewing witnesses. The teen has been charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, possession of a weapon, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, according to a statement from the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office.
The teen’s name will not be released, Ocean City Police Chief Bill Campbell said, because the person is a minor.
“I don’t think we could’ve done anything different to prevent” the stabbing, Campbell told The Inquirer on Wednesday. “Once it started, we had officers on scene who were instrumental in breaking [the altercation] up so it didn’t get worse.”
» READ MORE: Teen stabbed, multiple arrests made in Ocean City boardwalk chaos on Memorial Day weekend
Campbell said the stabbing was precipitated by a fight among teens from Pleasantville, Atlantic City, and Mays Landing. They knew each other, said Campbell, and had arranged to meet up on the family-oriented beach town’s boardwalk.
“This was a specific group with the intent of carrying out this fight that everybody saw on the video,” Campbell said at a news conference following the events, flanked by Mayor Jay Gillian. “No outside vacationers or residents of Ocean City were targeted.”
The stabbing was part of a chaotic beach season opener that saw Ocean City police issue more than 1,300 curbside warnings and bring in 23 teenagers for “stationhouse adjustments” related to things such as shoplifting and fighting. Those teens were released to their parents, Gillian said, and can avoid charges by performing community service.
The mayhem comes as Ocean City is focused on living up to its self-appointed nickname as “America’s Greatest Family Resort.” Starting last year, the municipality enacted a slew of ordinances — including a backpack ban — aimed at decreasing rowdiness and disorder in the dry Jersey Shore town. Children under 18 cannot be in public without an adult or legal guardian from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., and beaches close at 8 p.m. Parents of repeat offenders can be fined up $1,500 for allowing their child to break curfew.
Campbell said officers “adequately” enforced the beach behavior rules the night of the stabbing, and confirmed that the police department has plans to add more officers to its ranks. Twenty-four seasonal officers will complete their training Friday, he said. All but four will be assigned to the boardwalk for the summer.
The town is also considering updating ordinances they already have on the books — something Campbell said he doesn’t agree with.
“I don’t think that’s going to have an impact one way on the other,” he said. “And I have no plans to endorse rolling back the curfew any earlier than it is.”
Other Shore towns have similar laws in place, yet many still experienced a havoc-filled Memorial Day weekend: Wildwood issued a state of emergency that closed the boardwalk through the morning of May 29, and in Seaside Heights determined that reports of gunshots that created a similar stampede were unfounded.
“If you don’t want to behave, don’t come,” Gillian said in a statement following the stabbing. “I understand the impact that this behavior has on all of our residents, guests and business owners, and I want to assure everybody that Ocean City will not tolerate it.”
» READ MORE: What to know about Jersey Shore backpack bans, teen curfews, and beach closures