CENTRALIA — A young male was taken to SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital Monday night apparently beaten and unresponsive.

According to a man who came upon the scene and called 911, he was driving down Lincoln around 8:20 p.m. Monday, when he saw a group of about 15 teens in the middle of the street blocking his way.

When he was able to finally get through they were still in the road but something told him to turn around.

On his second pass through he noticed a woman had stopped in the street and a young man lay in the street unconscious, unresponsive and seizing. He said the victim’s face was bloody and swollen.

The man says he called 911 and stayed with the young man until an officer arrived.

Upon their arrival, Centralia police discovered a crowd of 15 to 20 people in the street. They called for backup from Wamac, Central City and Marion County, and also called for all available midnight shift officers to be brought in.

Officers from those agencies were ultimately dispatched to the hospital where a large crowd had gathered and was trying to break down the doors after being denied entry.

The young man’s identity has not been released, nor has his condition. It’s believed he was airlifted from St. Mary’s to a St. Louis area hospital.

We’ll bring you more details as they’re made available.