Extra security was provided at Hawthorne High School on the first day of classes following a fight that resulted in three arrests last week. School officials told parents at a meeting at the school that additional security would also be provided that Friday. However, parents want more security for the rest of the year, KCAL9 reported.
The fight, which involved multiple groups of students, erupted at 12:40 p.m. on Tuesday November 10, said Lt. Aimee Yoshida of the Hawthorne Police Department. One student was treated at the scene for minor injuries. Video footage captured large crowds of students surrounding several groups fighting. One video shows two female students attacking each other.
Another video shows a male student picking up a trash can and throwing it toward a group of students, The Times reported.
“I asked the security guard and they said it was about 30 fights (Tuesday),” student Nicole Gallardo told NBC4.
School officials, unable to quell the melee, called in Hawthorne police to help restore order. A police officer and a school staff member were assaulted when police and school officials tried to stop the fights. The officer and staff member did not require any medical assistance, The Times reported.
Samuel Wayne Lyman-Cruz, who posted a video of the fights on Instagram, told The Times that the fights were racially motivated. The school meeting, which was closed to reporters, became so heated that many believed the parents were about to fight in disagreement on how school officials should handle the situation, KCAL9 reported.
“Teachers are here to teach, not to babysit,” parent Cecilia Hortado told KCAL9. “So if I can’t handle my kid at home, this is what’s going to happen.”
Another parent told KCAL9 her child has been receiving threats that another fight would occur.
“It’s not going to just end because it happened (last Tuesday),” parent Tomiki Mathews told KCAL9, adding that her son was injured during the fight.
“It’s not just going to be over tomorrow.”
