On Sunday morning, a sign in a church window on Welch Avenue gave its own perspective on the events of the previous night:

“Today’s sermon — Tear gas: WWJD?”

For several people involved in the riots early Sunday morning, this benevolent attitude was the only reason they received the help they needed. Businesses and residents on Welch Avenue provided water, shelter and assistance to people trying to escape from the crowds, police and pepper spray out on the street.

Staci Nash, senior in child, adult and family services, said she was hit with pepper spray after leaving People’s Bar and Grill, 2420 Lincoln Way, which reopened to allow people to seek shelter.

“All of the sudden, I started coughing and then my eyes just shut,” Nash said. “They had to carry me into People’s. We were screaming because it felt like third-degree burns.”

Nash continued walking toward her home after she left People’s, but was stopped by a woman working at Cafe Escape, 2402 Lincoln Way, shortly thereafter.

“I was walking down the street, and this lady at [Cafe Escape] said, ‘You need to come in here right now,’ and just pulled me in there,” Nash said. “And she was like, ‘Honey, you’re burning up all over,’ and she just kept throwing water all over me. I’m thankful that they did that, because I wouldn’t have even made it home.”

James Johnson, an employee at Home Team Pizza, 2426 Lincoln Way, said people visited his restaurant for similar assistance.

“Once the tear gas got thrown, everybody started stumbling this way,” Johnson said. “We had to lock the front door so we didn’t have an entryway full of Maced people. I kind of felt like an ass — we had our door locked, but I guess there was nothing we could really do about it.”

Other businesses also closed their doors to keep the violent crowds out.

“We let a few employees in, but that’s it,” said Scott Nedved, junior in management and a manager at Jimmy John’s, 135 Welch Ave. “With a mob mentality going on, we weren’t going to let people in.”

Nedved did help a few people, including a police officer who wasn’t wearing riot gear and a woman who was having trouble breathing.

“We brought a lady in because she was having an asthma attack,” Nedved said. “The only reason she started breathing again was because of the inhaler.”

Many residents living on Welch Avenue also assisted injured people. Squire Boone, senior in history, said he and several of his neighbors assisted a man who became unconscious after being sprayed.

“He got peppered and collapsed and started going into convulsions and passed out,” said Boone, 304 Welch Ave. “911 wouldn’t even bring an ambulance down there.”

Shawn Syndergaard, senior in marketing, said he helped three people rinse chemicals out of their eyes.

“We were standing here, and they walked up asking for water,” said Syndergaard, 431 Welch Ave. “There were a couple of people who came up screaming about their eyes burning.”

Many residents living in the Campustown area said they became inadvertently involved with the riots. Phillip Gronewold, 507 Welch Ave., said he and was sprayed by police while sitting in his yard.

“[The police] were like, ‘Go inside,’ and we were like, ‘We live here,’ and then they sprayed us [with pepper spray]. They didn’t even give us a chance to go inside,” said Gronewold, junior in psychology. “My roommate got hit [with pepper spray] so bad, his shirt is orange.”

Nash said she believes the police were careless in their use of pepper spray and tear gas.

“I’m 5-1, and I weigh 100 pounds,” Nash said. “I wasn’t a threat. I was just trying to walk home.”