Authorities say an officer was hurt over the weekend after trying to break up a fight involving dozens of teenagers.

According to Blaine Police, several officers were working security at the Northtown Carnival, which takes place outside Northtown Mall, when they say around 200 teens started gathering and “being rowdy” at around 7:30 p.m.

As several teens were physically fighting, officers tried to step in and break it up but were attacked themselves, police say. Video shows others jumped in and continued to punch and kick others who officers were trying to restrain.

One officer suffered a concussion after a teen jumped on an officer’s back and elbowed the officer in the head, a release from Blaine police states.

Additional officers from Blaine and other agencies responded to help break up the crowd but the mall was closed as a precaution, police said.

Thus far, two juveniles have been charged with assault, police say, and other charges are possible.

“It’s disturbing,” said Chief Brian Podany of the Blaine Police Department. “Put yourself in the middle of that mess trying to sort that out and trying to protect people and stop a fight when it’s nothing but chaos.”

“We had to take one or two people down to the ground to try to get them under control because they just wouldn’t stop. Every time we tried to keep them at bay, they just kept coming back and trying to get back in the fight,” Podany said.

Podany said after the last couple years of fights, this year, they increased police presence and officers were present for the entire event, but it didn’t deter people from fighting.

Neighbors said the carnival is a community staple that’s been around for decades, but safety comes first.

“It makes me concerned. You don’t know if it’s going to spread into the neighborhood,” Kay Hammergren said. “There shouldn’t be any disruptions when you’re just having a fun carnival.”

The carnival is scheduled to reopen on Wednesday and run through Sunday, but fencing will be installed around the grounds and juveniles won’t be able to enter without a parent or guardian.

Blaine police explained, however, that shutting it down for good is not the goal, but it’s on the table.

“We want it to be a fun event for people to go to, but you can bet we’re going to make it a safe event too, whatever that takes,” said Podany.

It’s not the first time there have been incidents during the Northtown Carnival. Police say Northtown Mall was forced to close early due to a disturbance during the event last year. 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS reported on around 100 juveniles also causing a lockdown at the mall in 2022 during the carnival. At that time, police said that Gopher State Expositions, the organizer of the carnival, was working to provide additional security measures but it’s unclear what, if any, changes were made.