The 10 students arrested Friday after fighting at Howard School of Academics and Technology are “the same kids bringing us down,” the principal said.
“Ninety-six percent of our kids want to do right and have a great and peaceful school year,” said Howard Principal Paul Smith. “That 4 percent that wants to fight and bring our school’s name down — I’m just not going to have it. Every time they fight, they’re going downtown.”
When the students who were fighting were taken away in police cars, Smith said the remaining students were clapping and cheering.
The first fight broke out before school started, between two female students. When a male student tried to intervene, the brother of one of the instigators pulled him away so the fight could continue. The two females and the brother were charged with disorderly conduct, Chattanooga police said.
During the fight, another altercation broke out among four females in the cafeteria’s lobby. Those four, plus one other male student, also were charged with disorderly conduct, as were two additional female students who created a “large scene to keep the fight going,” said Janice Atkinson, spokeswoman for the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office. The 10 students were taken to the Hamilton County Juvenile Detention Center, she said.
Smith said the first two groups of girls don’t like each other. He’s unsure why the second fight broke out.
In October, 13 students at Howard were charged with disorderly conduct after a gymnasium fight, according to police.
At Hixson High School, a suspended student was stunned Friday with a Taser after becoming “uncooperative” and “unruly,” police said.
The school’s resource officer tried talking with the student, but he “refused to obey commands” and the officer was forced to use the weapon, said Atkinson.
The 16-year-old student was examined by Hamilton County Emergency Medical Services personnel and released with no injuries, she said. He was taken to the Hamilton County Juvenile Detention Center and charged with disorderly conduct and assault, Atkinson said.