DETROIT -- The city of Detroit turned away thousands of people who lined up Wednesday for a chance to receive stimulus money set aside for homeless and low-income residents.

Now, city officials are trying to backpedal from the chaos that ensued, refusing on-camera interviews with Local 4, trying to explain how a rumor about the president giving away $3,000 in stimulus money spread thoughout the community and created pandemonium outside the Cobo Hall.

The scene grabbed national attention when 50,000 people lined up and fights broke out as people clamored to get to the front of the line. The crowd snaked around downtown and created a safety hazard, forcing the Detroit Police Department to shut down the entire process.

"People were getting upset and fighting," said Detroit resident Rolawn Smith. "They were knocking elderly people down, cursing, just everything. It was really chaotic down here and I was really scared."

DPD called in its gang squad and the Salvation Army Disaster team for backup.

The city said it will be looking into why the event got out of control and how they can control the crowds if they ever have an event of this scale.

Residents were really in line to get an application for Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program stimulus money.

Detroit was granted $15 million in stimulus money to help residents pay bills and their rent or find temporary housing for the homeless.

More than 20,000 applications were handed out Tuesday at six neighborhood city hall locations. Residents had one last chance to get an application Wednesday at the Cobo Hall, but after only two hours of opening its doors, the city ran out of forms. The city intended to distribute 5,000 forms Wednesday.

The applications were free of charge but city officials said scam artists were selling copies for as much as $20 a piece.

Officials said a copied application is not valid. Authentic applications are either yellow or white with a blue box at the bottom.

All competed applications should be mailed into the city. Send the applications to Detroit Planning and Development Department at 65 Cadillac Square, Suite 1400, Detroit, MI 48226.

The city extended the application deadline one more week to Oct. 14.

Applications Guidelines To qualify, a person must have been a resident of Detroit for more than six months, must be homeless or facing eviction and must be able to maintain housing after receiving assistance. Also, a resident must make 50 percent less than the median area income, which would be less than $24,850 for single Detroit residents and less than $35,500 for a family of four. No mortgage assistance will be available through this program. Once applications are reviewed, only applicants eligible for funding assistance will receive notification from a service provider. Not all applicants will qualify or automatically receive money, according to Karen Dumas, director of communications for Detroit.

Download: HHRP Application Fact Sheet

Detroit is among the nation's leaders in home foreclosures, and at least one in four households are in poverty.

Watch: Thousands Line Up For Stimulus Check Applications