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JAMESTOWN, NY (WNY News Now) — Jamestown’s troubling youth is to blame for a string of brawls on the city’s southside that led to two separate stabbings on Wednesday.
Officers with the Jamestown Police Department were first dispatched to the areas of Linden and Park Streets just after 2 p.m. for the first reported attack.
Our crews caught two mobs of minors in conflict, screaming vulgarities and throwing bricks at each other outside an apartment house at 19 Park Street.
Authorities were called to the location three times within a few short hours. With most of the on duty officers on scene, Jamestown Police struggled to keep up with new calls coming in.
“We do what we can with what we have,“ explained Sergeant Tim Mason. “I think we definitely have enough resources to keep the city safe. So, we’re just going to keep doing what we do, and try to keep everybody as safe as possible.”
The two groups, Sergeant Tim Mason suspects, were also involved in a fight outside of Jamestown High School on Tuesday.
Since then, the students involved tell us they were expelled and no longer go to school.
“Most of them are our friends at one point,“ said one youngster.
“Yeah, most of them were friends with us at one point,” exclaimed another.
The two groups clashed on three separate occasions in broad daylight. The final altercation ended when one of the youngster’s father was stabbed in the back, multiple times.
He has since been taken to UPMC Hamot via medical helicopter.
In many cases like this, police say the parents share blame as much as their children.
“That’s one of the toughest parts,“ explained Sergeant Mason. “Sometimes the parents aren’t present, and sometimes they’re actively involved and making the situation worse.”
JPD maintains a Juvenile Bureau to take action against underaged suspects. Officers tell us controlling their child’s behavior is a parental responsibility.
“If they continue to allow their children to act this way, they can be charged criminally,“ stated Sergeant Mason. “We’ve advised several parents that have picked up their children that if this continues, that they will potentially be charged for it.”
We have reached out to the Jamestown Public School District about this issue and if there is anything educators can do to help control these kids.
A spokesperson tells us due to privacy laws, the district must “defer any further comment during the investigation of this incident to the Jamestown Police Department.”
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