The Tribune

PLEASE NOTE: The name of the school was incorrectly reported in the print edition of this story.

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

FOUR teenage girls from CV Bethel Senior High School were taken into police custody Tuesday afternoon for participating in a brawl that sent two other students, both girls, to the Princess Margaret Hospital.

According to acting officer-in-charge of East Street South Police Station, Superintendent Craig Stubbs, the girls, ages 14-16, were arrested during a fight that involved dozens of female students from CV Bethel.

Two teenagers were subsequently taken to hospital for treatment and one girl had a portion of her ear bitten off during the fight, according to Supt Stubbs.

A two-minute long video of the incident was uploaded on social media yesterday. In the video, dozens of teenage girls still dressed in their school uniforms, are seen attacking each other in the middle of East Street South, directly in front of the police station.

At one point, officers attempted to stop the fight. but the girls overpowered them. Students were also seen throwing blue paint in the middle of the road, bringing traffic to a standstill.

Supt Stubbs said the fight began shortly after school ended around 3.15pm at a gas station near the school. He said the four girls who were taken into custody were later released to their parents, but charges will be filed against several of the girls.

“We are still trying to determine what caused the fight. A team of officers went to the school to interview the students and get to the bottom of this incident. One of the females had a portion of her ear severed. This was an all out fight and these girls said to hell with the police being there,” Supt Stubbs said.

“We are looking at charges for these girls, someone will get charged with causing grievous harm or assault because a . . .portion (of a girl’s ear was removed). Officers unsuccessfully tried to stop the fight. They were in the middle of the street fighting. It started on Esso’s property and escalated into a huge fight. There were even students throwing balloons filled with paint.”

The Tribune tried to contact the school’s principal, but calls were not returned up to press time.

This comes after a security guard was shot multiple times by a gunman dressed in a school uniform. The shooting took place at L W Young Junior High School on Bernard Road around midday on Tuesday.

In a statement released after the shooting, Education Director Lionel Sands said student safety remains the Ministry of Education’s top priority. No students were hurt in Tuesday’s shooting, but the school was put on lockdown and classes were dismissed early.