6 Students Hurt In West Philly Melee
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- At least six schoolboys were injured this morning during an altercation in West Philadelphia just as the class day was beginning at nearby West Catholic High School.
Police and eyewitnesses say about 10 to 15 students from West Catholic and Boys Latin Charter School squared off about 7:30 AM outside the Market-Frankford elevated station at 46th and Market Streets, with bloody results.
According to Philadelphia police, about six of the students were stabbed, slashed, or otherwise bloodied, but none was seriously injured. Eyewitnesses say the boys were punching and kicking each other, sometimes in groups. Police think some of the slashing injuries were caused by a box cutter or similar implement.
Brian Pugh, working near the corner, saw the chaos.
"Once they started fighting, it just became a free-for-all," he told KYW Newsradio at the scene. "There were four or five fights going on at one time, three or four kids hitting one boy, and then another circle was three or four kids hitting another set of boys. So it just became an open free-for-all," he said.
There was blood on the sidewalk and more blood on a nearby snow bank.
One student from West Catholic was taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital for treatment. Five from Boys Latin were taken for evaluation and treatment to Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital.
Police listed the nature of the injuries as follows: three students with leg wounds, two students with hand or arm wounds, and one student with a mouth or lip wound.
Reported by Tony Hanson and Al Novack, KYW Newsradio 1060.
