LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Police arrested seven people after a melee at an impromptu Barack Obama victory celebration near the campus of Arkansas State University. Three police officers suffered minor injuries.

A female officer’s nose was broken when a man jumped on top of her and punched her without provocation, Jonesboro police Capt. Lynn Waterworth said. Waterworth declined to name those arrested until after a court hearing Wednesday afternoon.

About 200 people gathered at an apartment complex about a block away from campus in northeast Arkansas after Obama was declared the winner of the presidential election Tuesday night, Waterworth said. An off-duty officer moonlighting as a security guard for the apartment complex asked those who had gathered to go home, then called for help, she said.

Two on-duty officers arrived at the apartment complex, with the female officer calling to the crowd over her cruiser’s public-address system, Waterworth said. The crowd responded by throwing rocks and beer bottles at police, with one man attacking the female officer, Waterworth said.

A distress call summoned more than 40 police officers from surrounding departments and the Arkansas State Police, Waterworth said. One officer suffered a cut to the forehead and another fell to the ground during the scuffle, she said.

"What should have been a happy, celebratory time turned into a bad experience for a lot of folks out there at the hands of a few," Waterworth said.