MANKATO, Minn. — People set trash bins and cars afire and blocked streets near Minnesota State University, Mankato overnight Saturday as a riot broke out following the homecoming football game.

It took more than 150 police officers from 41 agencies to disperse the crowd, estimated to have been as many as 3,000 people.

Forty-five people were arrested, 20 of them MSU students. Four police officers and a dozen onlookers or participants were injured, none seriously, authorities said.

The trouble started about 10:30 p.m., on the 1500 block of Monks Avenue, just a few blocks from where North Dakota State University's football team beat the Mavericks 20-9. Jim Franklin, Mankato's public safety director, said two of his officers were called to a disturbance, unsuccessfully tried to quiet a crowd of 200 to 300 people, then backed off to await reinforcements.

In the meantime, the crowd grew to about 500, leading police to return and retreat a second time before soliciting help from all available area agencies.

When the full complement of police arrived, officials said they found thousands of people milling around on residential streets next to the campus.

It was a daunting scene, witnesses said.

The tumult prompted Mankato police to summon an armored personnel carrier with a dozen officers inside to respond to a 911 call that a woman had quit breathing in a building in the area.

The vehicle "began taking incoming bottles, rocks and bricks," some chucked from the roof of the building, Franklin said. Officers retrieved the woman and she was fine, but Franklin called the incident one of the saddest parts of the riot.

"It started out as just rowdiness, but then everybody's ego kicked in — like, let's see how far you can push it to the limit," said riot witness Myron Medcalf, a junior and the editor of the campus newspaper, the MSU Reporter.

People were swarming cars, throwing bottles, ripping landscaping fence up from around student apartments, dragging Dumpsters and lighting cars and trash afire.

"Every person you talked to to say, 'why is this happening — nobody knew,'" Medcalf said. "It was madness to watch five and six people push a Dumpster."

"People just started going crazy," said Ross Kuesel, a freshman. "Everyone was throwing everything at the cars … screaming 'M-S-U.' "

As police surrounded the crowd, some people dispersed and others were forced into the Campusview apartments area.

Many apparently entered unlocked apartment buildings, prompting police to spray pepper balls into some of the buildings to encourage people to stay in their apartments. The spray left a fat orange splat on the wall of one building that was still visible Sunday.

"I gagged for half an hour," said sophomore Nicole Lemke who was in one of the buildings.

She agreed with campus and city officials that drinking was largely to blame. "There wasn't a sober person around," following MSU's football loss, putting the team's record at 0-6. Lemke's friend, Tyler Pekar, said one afternoon party included 10 kegs of beer. Police said that some of the people they took into custody had blood-alcohol levels as high as .22 percent. One person was taken to detox.

The disturbance finally settled down about 4 a.m., and streets in the area were reopened by 6 a.m. But in the neighborhood and on campus, consequences will play out for far longer.

City and university officials held a press conference at MSU Sunday afternoon to clarify that events did not take place on campus and that only a small percent of the large crowd actually did damage.

University President Richard Davenport said he was "extremely disappointed," about the riot and emphasized that the campus is a safe, sober environment.

Unfortunately, such events happen often enough that Davenport said he is able to draw on the experience of other colleges and universities. MSU will review policies, including looking at whether homecoming events need to be changed. The students involved will face possible prosecution by the city as well as a student judicial process that allows for suspension and possibly expulsion.

One person was arrested in connection with third-degree riot, a felony. Many of the other 44 will face gross misdemeanor or misdemeanor charges, said Franklin, who added that there wasn't room in the local jail, nor need to jail all of those arrested overnight.

Police are still investigating the riot. They also are seeking video and still photos from witnesses to help xpiece together all that happened.

MSU junior Ben Nelson echoed the feelings of city officials and other Mankato residents Sunday afternoon.

"I'm really upset," said Nelson, who was working on campus Saturday night. "I was making fun of the Gophers when they did it and said this could never happen here."

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