Another place in our future
7 51 am
17 arrested in high school brawl
Updated: 10/28/2005 7:05 AM
By: Kate Barker and Shawn Flynn,
North Fight
A lunchroom brawl led to a more than a dozen arrests and an early dismissal for the entire student body.
Parents React
The school principal said overcrowding had nothing to do with Thursday's incident.
A Taser was used on two students ?– a male and a female ?– after several fights broke out Thursday morning at North High School.
Seventeen students were arrested in all after the fights broke out around 10:45 in the school cafeteria. At least eight students were injured and taken to the hospital.
Police said the incident, which was not gang-related, involved two groups of students during the first lunch period. The two students hit with the Taser were siblings.
?“We didn?’t have any other choice but to protect the officers?’ safety and protect the combatants?’ safety by using the Taser,?” said Lt. Barry Graham of the Police Department.
The school was on lockdown for several hours after the fights.
The cause of the fight is not yet known. It started with two teenagers fighting. When they were arrested, one of their sisters tried to intervene. She didn't listen to police, and that is when she was hit by the Taser.
''All the events that happened today were a result of those three kids making a poor decision,'' Principal Joey Burch said. ''We had some students that reacted inappropriately to their opinion of a police officer using a Taser to restrain a student.?”
Students said there was hysteria in the lunchroom, with people jumping on tables and police chasing those who ran.
?“I was very scared, and I was about to call my mother because I didn?’t know what was going on,?” senior Sateia Watson said. ?“I didn?’t know where to go. I didn?’t know anything.?”
The school was on lockdown for several hours after the fights. Just after 1 p.m., all students were dismissed for the day.
An injured student is carried out on a stretcher Thursday.
?“I don?’t care about checking (my daughter) out, signing her out,?” parent Terri Daniels said after the school day. ?“I told her: ?‘You find your way to the nearest entrance. I?’m taking you home.?”
School officials let students out early to calm tempers and ease parents' concerns. They will send a letter home Friday explaining what happened.
?“We can certainly assure parents that we?’ll have additional school security and police personnel as well,?” said Nora Carr, a spokeswoman for Schools.
Officers do not believe any of the students, including the two that were shot with the Taser, were seriously injured.
''They've been checked out with Medic; everything is fine,'' Graham said. ''They've been taken to local hospitals to be checked out for sure. When they're done with that, they'll be transported to County Jail.''
The arrested students are expected to be charged with disorderly conduct and fighting in public.
Also responding to the incident was the Police Department, and the Highway Patrol.
Did overcrowding play a part?
North , with approximately 3,000 students, is 200 percent over its capacity. There are 58 mobile classrooms on campus, and 10 more are being built.
?“This school is super overcrowded,?” Daniels said.
But Burch said that has nothing to do with Thursday?’s incident.
There are 58 mobile classrooms at North High School, and 10 more are being built.
?“Of the altercations that we have had this year, I would not attribute one of them as being the result of a place that was too crowded,?” he said. ?“Yes, it?’s a large school. But the majority of my kids do a great job.?”
Junior Tommy Gartz said it seemed like things were more ''under control'' this year. But now he's concerned again.
By Web Surfer
7 51 am
17 arrested in high school brawl
Updated: 10/28/2005 7:05 AM
By: Kate Barker and Shawn Flynn,
North Fight
A lunchroom brawl led to a more than a dozen arrests and an early dismissal for the entire student body.
Parents React
The school principal said overcrowding had nothing to do with Thursday's incident.
A Taser was used on two students ?– a male and a female ?– after several fights broke out Thursday morning at North High School.
Seventeen students were arrested in all after the fights broke out around 10:45 in the school cafeteria. At least eight students were injured and taken to the hospital.
Police said the incident, which was not gang-related, involved two groups of students during the first lunch period. The two students hit with the Taser were siblings.
?“We didn?’t have any other choice but to protect the officers?’ safety and protect the combatants?’ safety by using the Taser,?” said Lt. Barry Graham of the Police Department.
The school was on lockdown for several hours after the fights.
The cause of the fight is not yet known. It started with two teenagers fighting. When they were arrested, one of their sisters tried to intervene. She didn't listen to police, and that is when she was hit by the Taser.
''All the events that happened today were a result of those three kids making a poor decision,'' Principal Joey Burch said. ''We had some students that reacted inappropriately to their opinion of a police officer using a Taser to restrain a student.?”
Students said there was hysteria in the lunchroom, with people jumping on tables and police chasing those who ran.
?“I was very scared, and I was about to call my mother because I didn?’t know what was going on,?” senior Sateia Watson said. ?“I didn?’t know where to go. I didn?’t know anything.?”
The school was on lockdown for several hours after the fights. Just after 1 p.m., all students were dismissed for the day.
An injured student is carried out on a stretcher Thursday.
?“I don?’t care about checking (my daughter) out, signing her out,?” parent Terri Daniels said after the school day. ?“I told her: ?‘You find your way to the nearest entrance. I?’m taking you home.?”
School officials let students out early to calm tempers and ease parents' concerns. They will send a letter home Friday explaining what happened.
?“We can certainly assure parents that we?’ll have additional school security and police personnel as well,?” said Nora Carr, a spokeswoman for Schools.
Officers do not believe any of the students, including the two that were shot with the Taser, were seriously injured.
''They've been checked out with Medic; everything is fine,'' Graham said. ''They've been taken to local hospitals to be checked out for sure. When they're done with that, they'll be transported to County Jail.''
The arrested students are expected to be charged with disorderly conduct and fighting in public.
Also responding to the incident was the Police Department, and the Highway Patrol.
Did overcrowding play a part?
North , with approximately 3,000 students, is 200 percent over its capacity. There are 58 mobile classrooms on campus, and 10 more are being built.
?“This school is super overcrowded,?” Daniels said.
But Burch said that has nothing to do with Thursday?’s incident.
There are 58 mobile classrooms at North High School, and 10 more are being built.
?“Of the altercations that we have had this year, I would not attribute one of them as being the result of a place that was too crowded,?” he said. ?“Yes, it?’s a large school. But the majority of my kids do a great job.?”
Junior Tommy Gartz said it seemed like things were more ''under control'' this year. But now he's concerned again.
By Web Surfer
