Students Return To IE High School After Massive Brawls Break Out Across Campus
SAN BERNARDINO (CBSLA) — Students returned to an Inland Empire high school Monday after violence erupted across the campus last week, leaving students and teachers shook and social media buzzing.
Last Thursday, eight fights broke out at Cajon High School in San Bernardino, and a lot of the violence was caught on cell phone video.
Parents like Yolanda Garcia were hesitant to let their children return to school Monday.
"Oh my God. It was terrifying," the concerned mother told CBS2 News. "I was like, 'How could this happen at this school?' because it's supposed to be safe."
The brawls occurred inside the hallways and in the courtyards, among boys and among girls. In one of the videos posted online, one boy who looks like he might have been knocked is aided by security officers.
"Every single place I went, it was fight over here, fight over there," student Fernanda Olguin recounted.
The San Bernardino Unified School District has suspended the students involved in the fighting and increasing the number of security offers at the school Monday.
"We want all the parents to know that, indeed, Cajon High School is a safe school," assured Maria Garcia, a spokesperson for the school district.
Students did say the school seemed calmer after the holiday weekend.
Those assurances, however, were not too convincing for some parents who might seek alternatives to Cajon.
"I don't know what to do now. [I'll] probably have to send them home-school," said parent Bernie Jimenez.
It is a drastic measure that the district is trying to prevent, saying last week's massive brawl is not what Cajon embodies.
"The fights aren't what Cajon is," said one student. " This isn't what we want to be represented as."