Shots fired as police were trying to disperse a large crowd near Temple University

Gunshots were reported near the campus of Temple University in North Philadelphia late Saturday afternoon as law enforcement officers arrived to disperse a large crowd of young people, police said.

Officers heard “several” gunshots some time after they responded to a 911 call around 4:30 p.m. reporting more than 500 juveniles gathered at Broad Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue, police said.

Temple freshman Mallika Khurana said in an interview the shots occurred around 5:50 p.m. in the street outside Morgan Hall South, where she lives, and the nearby 1300 Residence Hall, both student residences.

No injuries were reported as of 6:25 p.m., police said.

Temple had issued an alert advising students and faculty to avoid the area and to use caution.

Khurana, 18, a legal studies major, said a large group of youths, many appearing to be no older than 9, had filled both Broad and Cecil B. Moore, extending north on Broad to in front of the Liacouras Center, around 4:30 p.m. Police were present, Khurana said, and intervened when small fights broke out. Khurana said fights moved into the nearby SEPTA station.

“These kids clearly were here to create drama,” Khurana said, adding some harassed workers in nearby businesses and jumped an Uber driver and tried to steal his car.

Around 5 p.m., dirt bike and ATV riders rode through the area, stopping traffic and adding to the chaos, Khurana said.

Less than an hour later she heard two shots and then a third, Khurana said. At that point, “there were cops flooding Broad, around eight to 10, and ambulances,” said Khurana, who watched from a lounge in Morgan Hall. That caused the crowd to scatter.

“The group of 500 kids became 100 within a second,” Khurana said.

At least one person was taken into custody, Khurana said.