DeKALB | “Some people were screaming to stop pushing, some people fell down into the building, some people were yelling ‘This is E2 all over!'” stated University Police report regarding an incident on NIU’s campus last week.

On Saturday Jan. 27, the Holmes Student Center’s southeast entrance was mobbed due to a scheduling snafu that resulted in a reported 600 people waiting in the bitter cold pushing to enter a dance.

The “Annihilation Dance Group” and the Phi Rho Eta fraternity hosted the event, according to a police report obtained by the Northern Star through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The first event preceding the dance ended just before 10 p.m. Police said officers attempted to maintain order within the crowd until the event’s scheduled start at 10:30 p.m. after temperatures had dropped into the teens earlier in the evening.

Around this time, police said the crowd grew impatient due to the cold weather and tried to get into the building. Officers didn’t allow anyone in because the group hosting the dance was not ready to accept money. Party organizers did not have a cashbox, according to Sgt. Joseph Pryzbyla.

Officers decided to open the doors to let individuals in 10 at a time, but pushing began. People tried to push their way in and pull others in, while others attempted to sneak in, said officer Alan Smith.

After the pushing failed to cease, one officer shut the door in an attempt to calm the crowd, then resumed letting people inside.

At this point, about 50 people pushed their way into the building while others fell down, the police report stated. One woman fell to the ground and suffered from a seizure, and required medical attention, according to Pryzbyla.

Soon after, the officers got everyone in the event and order was restored. Once the event began and the lights were turned off, police said there was a strong odor of cannabis in the air. This prompted the officers to turn the lights on and the event’s disc jockey made an announcement about why the lights were turned on.

The officers decided to give the crowd another chance and turned the lights off, but the odor returned and the officers turned the lights on for good, Smith said.

Several fights then broke out inside and outside of the Holmes Student Center, the police report stated. There were minor altercations outside the building, but the biggest fight took place on the dance floor, which resulted in police shutting down of the party and evacuation of the Regency Room, according to Smith.

More fights reportedly began during the evacuation of the HSC. Due to the fighting, police were forced to block off the entrance to the Huskie Bus turnaround with a squad car.

During one fight, officer Pryzbyla was struck in the face by a female in a white jacket. The female later ran away and was not located or identified.

“This behavior was one of the worst, if not the worst, that I have seen in any event that I have worked or attended at NIU,” Smith said in the report.

University officials were unavailable for comment late Monday.