A riot inside a juvenile detention center in the Bronx left nearly a dozen people injured on Sunday evening, prompting a large response from police and emergency crews. The disturbance broke out at the Horizon Juvenile Center on Brook Avenue, where authorities described a chaotic scene unfolding inside the building.
Police and FDNY emergency medical crews descended on the center, with some officers arriving in riot gear after reports of a chaotic fight inside. According to the coverage, the reports included injuries among those caught up in the violence, with some of the wounds described as stab wounds.
Officials indicated that the people hurt were staff members at the facility, who could be seen being taken out of the building. An FDNY medical transport bus pulled up to the center, though there was no visible sign of any injured teenagers being brought out at that point.
The Horizon Juvenile Center is a secure facility operated by the city's Administration for Children's Services. Weapons are not permitted inside, apart from the firearms carried by the uniformed police officers who responded, a detail that drew attention given the reports of stabbings during the disturbance.
Outside, anxious parents of teenagers held at the center described scrambling for information. One mother said her 17-year-old son is serving time inside and that she received a call telling her a riot had broken out. A father said his teenage son was okay but had been hurt inside the facility before, arguing that a correctional facility is meant to correct a child, not to harm them.
The Administration for Children's Services later said the situation at the Horizon Juvenile Center had been resolved and that the facility was secured. The circumstances that set off the disturbance, and the full extent of the injuries, remained under review as the response wound down.