A mob of hooligans called in a fake fire emergency. When authorities arrived on the scene, they were pelted with fireworks.
No one was injured in the onslaughts against firefighters and police in Alton on Sunday night and early Monday.
Apparently this huge waste of emergency resources was only done for a few laughs.
The attackers apparently intended the assaults as entertainment for a hundreds-strong crowd of adults and children who had gathered at the Oakwood Housing Complex to watch, said Mark Harris, a deputy fire chief who witnessed the attacks.
“Our firefighters got in there and started doing their thing, and out come the fireworks” including bottle rockets and Roman candles, Harris said. “It does appear we were lured in for that purpose.”
Police Chief David Hayes told The Telegraph of Alton that the firefighters were first attacked when they responded to reports of a Dumpster fire in the small city about 10:20 p.m. Sunday.
Separately, police officers were showered with bottle rockets fired from behind buildings at the same housing complex when they investigated a call falsely claiming someone had been shot and reports of fireworks being set off.
