Additional officers were dispatched due to the number of people involved, said Maj. Jason Hall.
“Two 18-year-old males were arrested for being the aggressors in the assault,” he said.
The pair has not been identified and charges are not formal.
A 15-year-old boy who was a victim in the fight was not injured.
One person, described as a female, was pepper sprayed by an unknown person. She later was taken to a local hospital, Hall said.
The library reopened shortly before 5 p.m.
Dayton Public Schools in a statement shared that none of its students were involved in the first fight — reported around 2:45 p.m. — and that adults not associated with the district “antagonized” and fought DPS students.
“It is extremely unfortunate that students utilizing the library were victims of an assault,” the statement read. “The district continues to work closely with the city of Dayton, including Mayor (Jeffrey) Mims and City Manager (Shelley) Dickstein, to find solutions to curtail all violence throughout our community.”
The main library will be closed from 2:30 to 5 p.m. today and Friday but will have regular hours on Saturday before closing for the holidays on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the library announced following Wednesday’s incidents.
Debi Chess, Dayton Metro’s external relations and development director, declined to comment on details of the fights but said the library always keeps the safety of its patrons in mind.
Fights involving youth have shut down this and other library branches multiple times this year. The Main Library branch downtown has seen a large increase in police calls for service this year, primarily due to proactive patrols.
The issue also spurred a community forum in October seeking ways to curb the problem, and led to increased security and reduced hours at some branches.
Unrelated to the fight, a 46-year-old man overdosed around the same time at the same location. He was taken to a local hospital and later arrested for possession of suspected narcotics, Hall said.
The incidents remain under investigation.
Staff Writers Sydney Dawes and Cornelius Frolik contributed to this report.
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