More than 200 wedding guests brawled Saturday night in a Buffalo country club fracas that required police from seven different agencies to break it up.
A manager at the Orchard Park Country Club denied any incident had occurred, but witnesses, police, and bystanders outside the reception hall described a chaotic scene.
“I’m telling you, there was blood everywhere,” one witness said. “There was holes punched in the walls. Words couldn’t describe it. Just when you thought it was over, another fight started.”
The ballroom erupted in chaos when the official reception ended at 11 p.m., an employee told The Buffalo News.
Police said the fight broke out following a minor incident about 10:20 p.m. in the parking lot, when a member of the wedding party who was accused of inappropriately touching a woman got punched in the face.
Officers escorted the aggressor off the lot, the newspaper reported.
But another fight broke out about 40 minutes later as guests were leaving, and dozens of family members and other guests joined in.
“Things were said that can never be taken back,” a witness said.
The bride was led outside to a back patio while the groom remained inside, helplessly begging guests to leave.
But the melee sucked in bystanders into multiple fights throughout the banquet hall and in the parking lot.
“No one was safe,” a witness said.
A 39-year-old man was hospitalized with a head injury, but other injured brawlers refused medical assistance.
The country club was cleaned up by Sunday afternoon, when reporters arrived to ask questions.
The manager denied any fighting had taken place, inviting reporters to look around for signs of damage.
He was not sure why police would have reported a large fight had taken place if none actually had.
However, The Buffalo News reported, the manager did not allow access to a banquet room where police said holes had been punched in walls, blood spilled onto carpets, and crystal bowls and other items were broken.
“For them to say nothing happened is 100 percent wrong,” said Lt. Patrick Fitzgerald, of Orchard Park police.
No arrests have been made, but police have asked the general manager to allow them to review surveillance tapes to determine what happened.
Watch this video report posted online by WIVB-TV:
