Student Hospitalized, Another In Custody After Franklin High School Fight
REISTERSTOWN, Md. (WJZ) -- A student was arrested Thursday following a fight at Franklin High School that sent another student to the hospital.
In a letter to parents, Principal Kieran O'Connell said a fight involving two students broke out Thursday morning in the school locker room. O'Connell said one student was injured and airlifted to the hospital, while the other was arrested.
"I want to assure you that this altercation did not involve weapons of any kind and that BCPD has made an arrest," O'Connell wrote. "We will also take swift action in accordance with the BCPS Student Handbook and policy."
A Baltimore County police spokesperson confirmed to WJZ that one person was struck in the head and another was taken into custody. The second student is charged with first-degree assault.
Students were briefly held in their classrooms while police investigated what happened, but the school said the rest of the day carried on like normal.
Neither police nor the school district released details about the students' ages or the severity of the hospitalized student's injuries.
Students, however, told WJZ the fight involved two freshmen girls. WJZ has not verified that information with authorities.
"We were in first period class and I got news from my friends and they were like, 'They're holding us in class,'" senior Aiden Allen said. "And I was like, 'Why?' Then over the speaker, they said there was an emergency."
"We heard the helicopter and that's when we knew it was bad," he added.
Another senior, Ife Odeyemi, said confusion about what was going on led classmates to speculate that a student had been stabbed. Odeyemi said students were a little on edge afterward.
"I was a little nervous about it, but I figured they have her in custody and the other girl's in the hospital," Odeyemi said. "I just hope she pulls through."
Shayen Green, a former student, said when she heard about the fight, her first concerns was for the safety of her brothers who attend Franklin High.
"I was petrified when I heard the student was airlifted to the hospital," Green said. "I want my brothers to come here and have an education. Now I have to worry about fights, being airlifted to the hospital--that's a shame."