Cleveland police are responding to several citywide social media “street takeovers.”

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – Chief Dorothy Todd said Cleveland police responded to several “street takeovers” across the city Saturday night where people stopped traffic, set off fireworks, tried to light fires and shot pellet guns that hit an officer.

Chief Dorothy Todd said calls came in for multiple locations where vehicles were piling up and blocking traffic after 11pm Saturday night.

Some of the locations included:

• West 25th Street and Lorain
• Roses Plaza on West 65th Street
• Steelyard Commons
• East 105th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive
• East 93rd Street and the Opportunity Corridor
• East 55th and Woodland Avenue
• I-90 West Freeway near West 14th Street

Chief Todd pointed to the I-90 incident for closing the freeway by stopping traffic, setting off fireworks and trying to start fires.

Chief Todd said they were unable to start these fires due to the wet roads.

Melvyn Beck, a party bus driver, said his bus was stopped during the I-90 incident and filmed from inside the vehicle as a masked individual pressed himself against his window.

Beck said he called 911 20 times last night.

Fortunately, no one on the bus was injured.

At least one officer was hit by a pellet gun and some residents reported gunfire being pointed at them at multiple locations, according to Chief Todd.

No serious injuries or damage were reported, according to Chief Todd.

“But this is still terrifying,” Chief Todd said.

Cleveland police saw an Instagram post Saturday night warning of these events being organized by someone in Cincinnati.

Police said they are monitoring the activity to see if incidents will occur.

“Unfortunately, they did show up in the area,” Chief Todd said.

Chief Todd said the vehicles were both local and from out of town.

Such incidents have occurred in a number of major cities, according to Chief Todd, who said it may have been part of a trend on social media.

“This is more than just a traffic problem,” Chief Todd said.

“These are criminal offenses.”

Chief Todd said they will continue to work to identify these individuals involved.

This is a developing story. Be sure to check back with 19 News for updates.

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