George Hunter

The Detroit News

Detroit police are poring over Facebook videos that show dozens of people cheering, laughing and videotaping a brawl between women that ended in a double stabbing.

The fight, which reportedly started over a parking space, happened Sunday evening at Rouge Park on the city’s northwest side, 6th Precinct Cmdr. Aric Tosqui said.

“It’s unfortunate that we as a society find entertainment in these kind of things,” Tosqui said. “In this case, people got hurt while everyone else stood around and filmed it instead of doing something.

“The case is under investigation, but one of the victims is uncooperative,” Tosqui said. “There were several videos posted to Facebook. We’ll be working with Facebook to gather all the videos so we can determine exactly what happened, and who was involved.”

Monday, police arrested two women, ages 21 and 22, in connection with the stabbings, Sgt. Adam Madera said.

One of the victims, a 30-year-old woman, was listed in stable condition in an area hospital. Police are working to identify the other victim, who reportedly drove away from the scene in a black Buick.

The police report was logged at 9 p.m. Sunday, although it’s unclear when the fight started.

One of the Facebook videos reviewed by The Detroit News begins with two women trading blows, as a crowd closes in on them; most of the onlookers filmed the fight amid the sound of cheers. Some stood on vehicles in an apparent attempt to get a better view of the fight.

The stabbings were not captured in the video reviewed by The News.

“This could have been a lot worse,” Tosqui said. “But it’s unfortunate the way it happened. Social media and YouTube are full of incidents like this, where people decided to film rather than do something.”

People on Facebook expressed disgust that the crowd cheered and recorded the incident rather than intervening.

Among the comments: “How sickening all those phones pulled out,” wrote a user with the screen name Shai Lynn K. Davis. “No one stopping the fight or calling police. SMH. Folks just getting a kick out of egging it on and recording so they can get attention on the Internet.”

Anyone with information about the fight is asked to call the 6th Precinct at (313) 596-5640.

ghunter@detroitnews.com

(313) 222-2134

Twitter: @GeorgeHunter_DN