Juveniles from three communities have been charged in connection with a large pre-dawn fight at Claggett Creek Park on Tuesday, July 22.

Three of those involved were stabbed, according to the Keizer Police Department. Two were treated at Salem Hospital and released and a third needed surgery to recover from the injuries.

Police say they still aren’t clear on what triggered the episode that initially was reported as gunfire in the city park. The report was made at about 4 a.m.

Lt. Trevor Wenning said some of the juveniles had been in some sort of confrontation the previous Saturday at the Safeway in Keizer. He said police weren’t called to that incident and details remained sketchy.

After the park report, police traced one juvenile to a relative’s home on Northeast Thorman Avenue. Because of the possible gunfire at the park, Wenning said, police took the precaution of deploying SWAT teams to the Thorman Avenue home to safely take juveniles into custody.

He said no gun was found and police now aren’t sure there ever was a shooting. He said police did recover knives.

One 17-year-old boy from Keizer faces charges of first-degree attempted assault, second-degree attempted assault, carrying a dangerous weapon, riot and disorderly conduct, according to Troy Gregg, Marion County Juvenile Department director.

Six other juveniles were charged with riot, Wenning said.

In Oregon, riot is a felony crime that occurs when “participating with five or more other persons the person engages in tumultuous and violent conduct and thereby intentionally or recklessly creates a grave risk of causing public alarm.”

The six included boys 15 and 17 and a girl 16 from Keizer, a boy 17 from Salem, and girls 16 and 17 from Dallas.

Three were in the custody of Marion County juvenile authorities, two in the custody of Polk County juvenile authorities and two were released to relatives.

Wenning and Gregg said there was no indication the two groups of juveniles had any connection to gangs.

“The violence level with kids continues to be on the rise here in Marion County,” Gregg said.

He said most of those accused in the Keizer fight had no previous arrests.

“We’re seeing more and more often that a lot of these kids coming in are first-time offenders,” he said.

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