Chaotic fighting in downtown Minneapolis mars St. Patrick's Day

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Minneapolis police made approximately 6 arrests during a chaotic Tuesday night downtown following the St. Patrick's Day parade, as hundreds of teens got into several large fights. The first reports of large crowds and fighting started coming in around 7:30 p.m., toward the end of the parade. Hundreds of teens took buses downtown, apparently with the intention of causing trouble.

As the crowd milled around Nicollet Mall, several large fights broke out. Crowds would gather and police would break it up, then it would start all over again in a new location. Police eventually swept Nicollet from both ends, occasionally using a chemical irritant to get the crowds under control.

"It appears their intent was to cause chaos and disorder," Inspector Michael Kjos said. "The group ran through downtown and were fighting amongst themselves and blocking traffic."

Two people involved in the fighting were treated for minor injuries.

Police say there was one shooting in downtown Minneapolis , though it happened some distance away from the area around Nicollet and 7th where chaos reigned for some time. No arrests have been made in connection with the shooting.