Chicago Police responded to newly released 911 tapes from Memorial Day and maintain that North Avenue Beach was closed that day "in the interest of public safety."
On the tapes, beach-goers are heard complaining of fights and even threats at neighboring Oak Street Beach. A caller selling chairs and umbrellas at a concession stand called 911 after he said he was harassed.
"We have a couple of gentlemen, well, actually a few people, threatening to shoot us, threatening to whoop our ass," the caller said. "They're unhooking our equipment."
Police said in a statement released Friday that officers responded to Oak Street Beach incidents, but no arrests were made.
"The closure of North Avenue beach was unrelated to any activity at Oak Street beach on
Memorial Day," police said in the statement.
Police told NBCChicago on background that some of the six arrests made that day along the lakefront were for drinking on park district property and none of the arrests were for violence. There were also numerous citations issued that day.
There were a number of heat-related illnesses on North Avenue Beach, police say in a statement. A total of four people were transported, including one person in critical condition.
