This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Violent disturbances near Keene State College during an annual pumpkin festival lasted until early on Sunday and involved dozens of arrests and injuries, as well as police in riot gear using tear gas to disperse crowds.

Keene State student Ellery Murray told the Boston Globe she was at a party on Saturday that had drawn a large crowd, when people started throwing things.

“People were just throwing everything they could find – rocks, skateboards, buckets, pumpkins,” she said. “People just got too drunk.”

The parties around the school coincided with the annual Keene Pumpkin Festival, in which the community tries to set a world record of the largest number of carved and lighted jack-o-lanterns in one place.

WMUR-TV in Manchester showed video of a crowd overturning a car, people running from tear-gas clouds, street signs being torn down and fires burning in the streets. Police, who dressed in riot gear and ordered crowds to disperse, also investigated reports of people throwing glass bottles and fireworks, jumping off a roof and banging on cars.

One group of young people threatened to beat up an elderly man, and another resident heard someone “threatening to kill officers”, according to the Keene police department log, which shows 235 calls between 2.30am on Friday and 3.30am Sunday and at least 49 arrests.

Not all were part of the disturbances, but at least 14 arrests on Saturday and early Sunday appeared related to the unruly behavior. Most involved disorderly conduct or alcohol-related offences.

At least 30 people were injured near the school before evening on Saturday; 20 were taken to hospitals, Keene fire chief Mark Howard told New England Cable News.

The governor of New Hampshire, Maggie Hassan, said state and local safety officials worked to defuse what she called “the situation”. College officials provided few specifics but said Keene State students and out-of-town visitors were involved.

The college president, Anne Huot, said in an emailed statement the festival had been promoted by others “as a destination for destructive and raucous behaviour” and the college had tried working with the city and campus to prevent unruly conduct.

“We deplore the actions of those whose only purpose was to cause mayhem,” she said, adding that the students involved will be held accountable.