Vincent High School: Violence

The good news: Bradley Tech High School was not the scene of pandemonium yesterday. Police didn't descend on the school to break up fights, make arrests, and attempt to restore order.

The bad news: Vincent High School erupted with violence on Monday.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Milwaukee Vincent High School was locked down Monday afternoon after a series of fights broke out inside the building, police and school district officials said.

Eight students have been taken into custody, Milwaukee police Lt. Charles Berard said. No injuries have been reported, he said.

The school, at 7501 N. Granville Road, was locked down about 2:15 p.m., Berard said.

Students have been dismissed by floor to limit the number of students exiting the building at the same time, said Berard and Roseann St. Aubin, a spokeswoman for Milwaukee Public Schools.

Several of the fights started in the cafeteria, St. Aubin said.

Police are still investigating the cause of the fights, Berard said.

That report doesn't quite capture the severity of what happened.

A report by Mick Trevey, TMJ 4, presents a more detailed picture.

Police were called to Milwaukee Vincent High School Monday after numerous fights broke out and the school became a scene of pandemonium and disorder.

"The kids were running freely, shoes all everywhere, clothes everywhere, blood all over the lunchroom tables, tables getting thrown," described high school sophomore Deomni Kyles.

According to police, there were numerous fights all over the building. A police lieutenant handling the response said that as soon as officers got one fight stopped, another would begin someplace else.

"It was out of control," said high school senior Deasia Richardon.

Milwaukee Public Schools said they were aware of two fights in the cafeteria. However, spokeswoman Roseann St. Aubin said that as many as 100 students were loitering in a common area outside of the cafeteria and refusing to go back to class.

She said the school staff declared a "code yellow" to try and break up the group. But instead, she said students began running through the hallways. The school then declared a "code red" to enforce a lock down of the building.

However, even after the lock down began, students were seen walking in and out of the building.

TODAY'S TMJ4 reporter Mick Trevey was brought inside the locked down building by school staff and observed students running around the hallways and screaming. School staff members tried to yell back at the students but were unable to gain control.

"It took a while to sort it out," said spokeswoman St. Aubin. "You have to follow through on disciplining and you have to make certain you're getting to the young people who were not listening today to staff."

Students gave accounts of a school in chaos. "The security guards couldn't do nothing," said Richardon. "They was sitting there just trying to block them from not coming in. But they running over there fighting. It was chaos, it was crazy."

Monday night, the school staff met to discuss the incident. St. Aubin said the school will review procedures and vowed not to let the school become a scene of disorder again.

Milwaukee taxpayers, take note of your tax dollars at work.

There was more control at the zoo than at Vincent yesterday.

I wonder if the chaos affected learning. Do you think Vincent students will have their homework done when they arrive at school today? Of course, I'm talking about the ones who weren't arrested.
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UPDATE: Vincent student tased by police on Tuesday.