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ST. LOUIS — Police said they arrested “dozens and dozensâ€� of people downtown after the Fourth of July celebration at the Gateway Arch on Friday night turned into a roving fireworks battle between groups of youths. A heavy police presence downtown at first kept the firework shooting at bay as families and tourists headed home from the Celebrate ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ show, the annual Independence Day event that draws thousands to the Arch grounds. But dozens of people, including many youths, remained to shoot fireworks late into the night. They threw large fireworks into traffic and near crowds on sidewalks as July Fourth faded into the morning of July 5.

Police spokesman Mitch McCoy said police arrested more than 60 downtown, including at least 45 juveniles — one who was taken into custody twice, McCoy said. Eight were arrested on gun charges; others included discharging fireworks, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and resisting arrest.The youngest to be arrested was a 12-year-old from Florissant, Chief Robert Tracy said. And McCoy said dozens of parents and guardians were cited for the actions of their children. The parents and guardians were charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, McCoy said at a press conference Saturday afternoon. If the juvenile had a firearm, the parents were also charged with behavior injurious to a minor. Parents and guardians were issued citations when they came to pick up their children at a location the police informally dubbed the Reunification Center, Tracy said at the press conference. Tracy added that the police kept the public alerted to what was happening on its social media channels. They would continue to do throughout Saturday night’s festivities. “Parents, if you see your children on our social media accounts, start heading down to our Reunification Center,� he said. He did not divulge the location of the center, but said the arrested youths would call parents and let them know where to pick them up. The heavy police presence came a year after large gatherings of youths shooting fireworks downtown descended into chaos, breaking windows in downtown buildings and resulting in several nonfatal shootings. This year, police warned parents that they would be cited for the behavior of their children if they discharged illegal fireworks amidst downtown’s high-rises and thoroughfares.

There were no immediate reports of shootings this year. Still, as the night wore on, police struggled to contain the number of young people who wandered the blocks around Kiener Plaza and the City Garden sculpture park, despite barricades there to prevent large gatherings. At around 10 p.m., McCoy, the police spokesman, said more than a dozen had been detained. Police were everywhere. Even Tracy helped direct traffic along Market Street. “Everyone is involved here,� McCoy said.

As 11 p.m. approached, close to 100 young people in several groups congregated on the blocks around City Garden and the vacant AT&T building. A firework exploded at 8th and Pine streets as traffic inched out of downtown. “Where the police at?� a driver yelled at officers on the corner. Soon after, police arrested two young men at the intersection as their friends across the street yelled that they didn’t have fireworks in their backpacks. Other youth taunted police, saying they hadn’t shot off fireworks and couldn’t be detained.

Every few minutes, a large firework would explode. Around 11 p.m., one went off nearly under a line of cars on Market Street as the few people remaining from the Arch fireworks show were leaving downtown. A crowd of juveniles sprinted away down the sidewalk. But as police tried to move the kids along, they’d gather elsewhere. Around 11:30 p.m. at Pine and 11th streets, there were few police but dozens of youths. Someone threw a large firework near a car. A man exited holding his ears in pain. By midnight, police began clearing the crowd out, marching along Pine street toward Tucker Boulevard and telling people to leave. But the teens then began gathering along Tucker Boulevard. Several fireworks were thrown onto the wide thoroughfare. A young woman ran across the street holding her face in pain. A bystander said she was bleeding. The crowd eventually migrated north to Washington Avenue. Someone shot a Roman candle from a car window as they took a left onto Washington. Another car fired several large fireworks out of a car at Washington and Tucker. Several then went off near 11th Street and Washington Avenue. As a crowd in the Flamingo Bowl watched from the windows, police quickly responded and detained several young men. But after a few minutes, to the groans of patrons in the bar, police let them leave. “They don’t respect nobody,� Rob McCoy, a private security guard for CityGarden, said about the youths, shortly after officers detained someone who had broken through the barricades blocking access to the downtown sculpture park. “Not me. Not the police.� But it was better than last year, he said, when he worked the same shift at CityGarden. At least seven people were shot then, and he had to take shelter in a building on the park property. The window of the restaurant on the property was broken by fireworks, he said. The police presence this year, he said, helped. “If it wasn’t for them,� McCoy said, “I’d be surrounded.�

Eli Randolph and Daniel Neman of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.