Several fights broke out Wednesday after huge crowds gathered at Hampton Beach, and now police are investigating.
A hot day always draws a crowd at Hampton, New Hampshire, especially early in the season, but witnesses and police say this was different.
"There was a big party right over there, I guess it was a big skip day for kids from Massachusetts," said Xavier MacShane, the manager of Bad BRGR on the boardwalk.
Hampton Police say the idea started with a flyer on TikTok. About 500 people, mostly students from as far away as Boston and Worcester, showed up to party on the beach.
Get New England news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NECN newsletters.
"We've learned they were skipping school or recently graduated, so they were having a good time down at the beach," said Alex Reno, deputy chief of the Hampton Police Department.
Videos posted to social media show huge crowds. Some people wore boxing gloves and squared up.
"A lot of boxing, a lot of random fights going on here and there, but that's what happens when you get a big crowd of people in one place," MacShane said.
The boxing video, along with footage from a similar incident last weekend at White Horse Beach in Plymouth, Massachusetts, are fueling speculations about organized fight clubs. Eight people also faced charges after a brawl on Narragansett Beach in Rhode Island.
Reno says they're looking into any connection, but he doesn't believe there's evidence.
"We don't have any indication it was a planned fight club or anything like that," Reno said.
He says on Wednesday, most kids were just out to have fun.
"It was a large group of teenagers doing what teenagers do," he said. "There was nothing wrong with it until alcohol started coming into play and people started to fight."
Some boardwalk businesses shut their doors early to avoid any chaos once police dispersed the crowds.
"We actually closed our doors and let the people finish who were in here," said Traci Schaake of JB's Seafood. "But we never felt threatened."
A 21-year-old man from Lowell, Massachusetts, was arrested and police say more charges are possible after they review all social media videos they can find.
Reno says his officers are always scouring social media and already know about another planned event at the beginning of June.
He said they will be prepared with plenty of manpower.
