Philadelphia Police Respond to Mass Looting and Vandalism in Historical City Center

Large crowds of teenagers allegedly looted multiple stores in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, and at least one person was assaulted, according to local media reports and multiple videos posted to social media.

The juveniles allegedly looted several stores including a Foot Locker, a Lululemon and an Apple Store in Philadelphia’s historical Center City. In addition, CBS News Philadelphia reported that a security guard at the Foot Locker was assaulted.

Between 15 and 20 people have been arrested as of midnight ET, according to interim Philadelphia Police Commissioner John Stanford. Police have also recovered two guns from the scene.

“These weren’t protestors, these were criminals," Stanford said at a news conference, according to a reporter for Fox's Philadelphia affiliate. “They were moving in a caravan, communicating on social media, going place to place."

NBC’s Philadelphia affiliate reported that the crowd consisted of as many as 100 to 200 masked teenagers.

Center City is Philadelphia’s central business district and is defined by the city’s original boundaries before 1854, when the city border was expanded to overlap with Philadelphia County. The neighborhood includes Philadelphia City Hall, the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed.

Police believe the thefts were unrelated to earlier protests of charges being dropped against a former police officer accused of shooting and killing a man last month inside his car during a traffic stop.

Those protests ended peacefully, according to CBS News.