Students Riot on Route 1

A teenage female was critically injured in an apparent hit-and-run last night as hundreds of students rioted on Route 1 following the women's basketball team's slim overtime victory against Duke.

The unidentified woman was the only person reported injured in the unexpected post-game celebrations. Police in full riot gear pepper sprayed to disperse the rowdy crowd that lit fires and attempted unsuccessfully to tip over a Shuttle-UM bus.

University Police reported no arrests as of last night, and Prince George's County Police did not immediately return phone calls by press time.

It took police about an hour to break up the raucous celebrations. Prince George's County Police initially sent two dozen officers, said District 1 Commander Kevin Davis said the Prince George's County Police, and later sent reinforcements to control the crowd.

Despite the turbulence, witnesses and local business owners said the riot was not as serious as others in the past. The crowd, which lit three fires along Route 1, was mostly content with forming mosh pits around the intersection of Knox Road and Route 1 chanting "F--- Duke," and even "F--- JJ" as they snapped pictures of each other with cell phones and talked to reporters.

The most anxious moment of the riot occurred around 11:30 p.m. when a small group of men attempted unsuccessfully to tip over a Shuttle-UM bus with a few riders inside.

With the closest police in sight standing at Hartwick Road, student Daniel Nemec rushed into the line of men rocking the bus and cleared them away quickly. He watched restlessly as crowds of students formed mosh pit-like circles.

"I'm not nervous," Nemec, a sophomore said, "I wish we wouldn't destroy stuff though."

The bus driver, junior engineering major Marcus Gaskins calmly said he was unworried when the rocking began.

"I knew they weren't going to do anything," he said. "I was pulling down here, saw the crowd and was like 'Go Terps.'"

Just before, an ambulance had tried forcing its way through the crowd to collect the screaming woman who had been struck by a car. She was taken to a local trauma unit with life-threatening injuries, Prince George's Fire Spokesman Mark Brady said.

Soon after the ambulance left, students began ramping up the celebration into a feverish roar as they crowded into the intersection.

One man, who had a T-shirt wrapped around his face and identified himself only as "John," said he wanted to "Keep the tradition," by joining in the melee. But it was his girlfriend, who identified herself as "Suzie," who encouraged him to "Start a few fires" and "Knock some shit over."

At the same time at the South Gate security checkpoint, students blocked off the road as police in riot gear began entering the campus. Chants of "Defense" and "F---- the police" were heard as students stood their ground, taunting the police to come nearer.

"They can't f---ing go on our campus," one student screamed. As police retreated toward the much larger crowd at Knox Road, students belted out the lyrics to the song "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Good-bye," and chanted "We can't hear you."

Shortly after a line of police with Plexiglas shields began marching to Knox Road from Hartwick Road, where one officer armed with a pepper spray gun began shooting the ground near Ratsie's by revelers' feet. Only then did the crowd begin to clear the intersection.

In other locations, students reported police firing rubber bullets into the crowd as screaming people fled the scene.

"Hell no, I'm not ready for this shit," one man screamed as he ran from riot gear-clad police threatening to unleash another round of pepper spray.

Students became increasingly incensed as a few officers effectively held back the crowd by threat of pepper spray gun.

Some students, frustrated by a perceived lack of enthusiasm, cried out "We've got numbers!" and some began chanting "We want horses!"

"I guess the riot police don't think women's fans were good enough for horses," quipped Erin Brennan, a sophomore journalism major.

Employees of local businesses observed last night's celebration paled in comparison to the celebrations following other basketball wins, and no major damage to property surrounding the scene or to the campus - aside from a few trash cans set ablaze - was reported.

"This wasn't anywhere near when we last won a championship," Allison Tomai, a senior history major and Jimmy John's employee said. "I remember they threw benches through the window."

As one of the last fires died down and the crowd began to dissipate, police became increasingly agitated, banging on shields and warning students of impending arrests. At that point, one student in the Wawa parking lot was warned to get back by police, then sprayed directly in the face with pepper spray.

"I was slowly turning around to go in the direction they were pushing us and I got sprayed point blank," the student, who identified himself only as David P, said. "Don't ever get sprayed by that stuff, man, I look like I've got the worst sunburn in the U.S.A."

Senior staff writers Jeremy Arias, Kate Campbell, Tyeesha Dixon, Megan Eckstein, Sam Hedenberg and Sara Murray contributed to this report. Contact reporter Kevin Litten at littendbk@gmail.com.