Brawl at Carson School Not Racially Motivated, District Officials Said

The district said rumors that the fight was racially motivated were "unsubstantiated," and the cause was still under investigation Wednesday night

What sparked a brawl involving as many as 50 students at Carson Senior High School earlier in the day was in contention Wednesday night.

Some news reports speculated that the fights were sparked by racial tension, but the Los Angeles Unified School District denied those early assumptions.

"Descriptions of these fights as racially-motivated have not been substantiated," LAUSD School Police Chief Steven Zipperman said in a statement. "This campus has no current racial issues."

Opinions among students were mixed, with some insisting that it could not have been racially motivated while others said the demographics of students involved prove otherwise.

Regardless of the catalyst, there will be increased security at the school Thursday following a melee that started with a single fist fight and grew.

The school was under modified lockdown, meaning students were still free to move around the school but extra police officers were at the campus, according to the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The brawl broke out in the quad area during the students' mid-morning snack break.

Aerial video showed officers walking around the school grounds and at least 19 LAPD squad cars parked in front of the school.

Two students were taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center with injuries to their abdomens.

Local

Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.

Orange County families running out of options as Diaper Bank runs out of money

One last ride for the Murphy Auto Museum in Oxnard this summer

Two more were transported to a local hospital, and four were treated by the school nurse and released.

Three people were taken into custody (pictured, right) on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, their feet, according to LAUSD. 

A total of seven students were either arrested or suspended in connection with the fight.

"We are still looking into the cause of this fight," Zipperman said, speaking at the scene. "This is a very racially and culturally diverse school. It is very uncharacteristic for this campus to have a situation like this happen."
 
"We have no information that would lead us to believe there was something that's racially motivated, or something that has been brewing that  has caused this fight to occur," Zipperman said.

School was dismissed at the normal time, shortly after 3 p.m.

Carson Senior High School is located at 22328 Main St.


View Larger Map

Follow NBCLA for the latest LA news, events and entertainment: Twitter: @NBCLA // Facebook: NBCLA

Copyright CNS - City News Service
Contact Us