Exclusive: Police Investigate YouTube Video Of 8th Graders Fighting In Philadelphia Classroom
By Walt Hunter
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia School District officials confirm they are now investigating to learn more about a YouTube video that shows two 8th grade students viciously beating each other inside the Carnell School in Northeast Philadelphia.
The classroom video, first revealed in an exclusive CBS 3 I-Team investigation, shows two students fighting as fellow pupils cheer and shout. Finally, the fight is broken up by two adults, believed to be school district employees.
Philadelphia School District spokesperson Fernando Gallard says neither of the two students was seriously hurt, and the District does have a police officer assigned to the K-8th grade school.
Parents told CBS 3 they are concerned about the violence and how long, they say, it took employees to intervene.
The fight, which took place on December 5th, was posted on YouTube the same day.
Gallard says elementary school administrators acted immediately, suspending one of the two battling students, who attacked another pupil at his desk, as well as the student who recorded the video.
Gallard says, however, School District officials and police were never notified about the violence until Wednesday. The District, Gallard adds, will now look into the incident, including why top officials and police were not immediately told about it when it happened.
