Fight over social media posts leads to 2 aggravated battery arrests

Lawrence police say a confrontation over social media posts came to blows, leading to the arrest of two people Wednesday night.

Officers were dispatched shortly before 7:30 p.m. to a disturbance that involved weapons in the 1500 block of Oak Hill Avenue, Officer Derrick Smith said, in an email to media Thursday morning.

Two suspects and three victims got into a confrontation regarding “things posted on social media,” Smith said. He said a fight broke out during which the suspects used a “blunt object” and a “bladed object” (which police did not specifically name).

Police arrested two people on suspicion of aggravated battery and other charges. Medics treated some minor injuries at the scene but everyone declined transportation to the hospital, Smith said. According to corresponding jail records, the people arrested were a 30-year-old Eudora man and a 32-year-old Lawrence woman.

UPDATE: Charges were filed against both and included specific weapons. Complaints allege that the man threatened one victim and harmed another with a knife, and that the woman hit two victims with a hammer.

The man told the judge during his first court appearance Thursday afternoon, “Your honor, it’s all bogus.” The woman, who faced the judge several minutes later, said the charges were “wrong,” and that three men were chasing her co-defendant down the street and beating him with a rake, so she maced them.

— I’m the Journal-World’s public safety reporter. Reach me by email at sshepherd@ljworld.com or by phone at 785-832-7187. I’m also on Twitter, @saramarieshep.