13 arrested in 'illegal fight club' on Long Island, police say

Monday, July 21, 2025
SHIRLEY, Long Island (WABC) -- Suffolk County police busted what they called an 'illegal fight club' at a home in Shirley, Long Island on Sunday night.

When police arrived, they saw a fight break out and someone even fired a gun, police said.

More than a dozen people were led out of the house in handcuffs, other ran away.

Illegal street fighting videos posted online by a group called 'Guns Down Gloves Up' in Philadelphia, is viewed by organizers as an alternative to gun violence.

Police on Long Island say its not safe after they broke up a second illegal fight club in Suffolk County this year.



"It's where people would gather to fight settle disputes or just compete in a fight. It's not a sanctioned event and that allows us to charge them on unlawful assembly," said Suffolk Police Chief of Detectives William Doherty.

Doherty says 13 people were arrested in Sunday night's fight club, most of who were teenagers and in their early twenties.

"Some people may think it's a good motivation to have people settle their disputes by meeting up and agreeing to fight it out but anytime you get a large gathering of people, things can go wrong," Doherty said.

Doherty says one of the participants pulled out a gun and fired blanks, hurting a 17-year-old and a 19-year-old male.

"The gun was designed to fire blanks. It wasn't a firearm that expelled the projectile but the blanks were fired close enough to two individuals to injure them," Doherty said.


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