Baltimore high school brawl sees 3 hospitalized, 7 arrested
theGRIO REPORT - A brawl erupted in the cafeteria of Baltimore County’s Overlea High School on October 22, leading to seven arrests.
A brawl erupted in the cafeteria of Baltimore County’s Overlea High School Wednesday, leading to seven arrests.
Three individuals were taken to local hospitals to receive treatment for non-serious injuries, according to WBAL-TV. Seven students were arrested and charged with assault and disorderly conduct, ranging in age from 16 to 19.
Police Corporal John Wachter indicated that the department has no reason to believe that the fight was gang-related, following a statement from Baltimore County Public Schools spokesman Mark Bedell:
We don’t know whether or not it’s gang-related. We haven’t heard anything of that nature.
Overlea neighborhoods reportedly have rivalries between different blocks that have escalated in the past.
School administrators believe that an earlier off-campus fight was to blame for incident, which saw police officers using pepper spray to subdue the assailants. The three hospitalized students were reportedly being treated for inhaling the spray, including an asmathic sophomore girl.
The girl’s mother, Lori Blankenship, said that police and school officials “handled it terribly.”
Police, on the other hand, indicated that the force was justified, with Wachter saying, “All the tools that we have that was the proper escalation of how these officers should have handled that incident.”
In addition to criminal penalties, the arrested students could face suspension or possible expulsion for the on-campus fight.
