MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. -- About 150 people roamed the city's east side, shooting at police and throwing rocks at passing cars in unrest officials linked to a hit-and-run accident that killed a teenager, authorities said.
Police arrested a dozen people and blocked off up to nine blocks of Michigan Boulevard for most of Tuesday night as the area around a public housing project was rocked by a second straight night of sporadic violence.
Police Capt. James Mason said 'some' minor injuries were reported late Tuesday, and windshields were broken in an unspecified number of cars. Shots were fired at police but no officers were injured, he said.
Mason said police had no immediate estimate on property damage.
Mayor Robert Behler Jr. said the incidents might have been sparked by a hit-and-run accident Monday night in the area that caused the death of a teenager. The driver has not been found, police said.
Mason said some of the cars hit by rocks and bottles were driven by blacks, and that black residents came out of their homes armed to protect themselves before being forced back inside by police.
'There are no legitimate reasons' for the violence, Mason said. 'The hit-and-run accident resulted in a young man's death, so there was a lot of tension over that. (Those involved in the accident) all were black.'
While conflicts between whites and blacks were witnessed Tuesday night, Behler and the police refused to characterize the violence in the mostly black neighborhood as race-related.
Mason said 12 people were arrested on various charges Tuesday night as the full Michigan City Police Department force and some LaPorte County Sheriff's deputies roamed through the violence-stricken area. Mason said specific charges had not been filed.
Police rolled back their force by about 11 p.m., although Mason said authorities were braced for the possibility of more violence in the neighborhood Wednesday night.
'We are expecting it to settle down,' Mason said. '(The situation) has settled down somewhat. (But) we can't predict what's going to happen.'
The area surrounding the Harborside Homes housing project also was beset by violence last summer, when roaming bands of youths indiscriminately caused property damage in the area.
