Gilroy
– Two additional suspensions have been served after a series of
gang fights during lunch at Gilroy High School bringing the total
amount to 12.
Gilroy – Two additional suspensions have been served after a series of gang fights during lunch at Gilroy High School bringing the total amount to 12. School officials are reviewing security tapes to piece together the events leading up to the fights Friday and to ensure all individuals involved are caught.
The fights were the result of an elevated dispute between the Norteños and the Sureños gangs on campus on Friday May 13, according to police and student accounts. Thirteen is a number commonly associated with the Sureños, while the Norteños are affiliated with 14.
As many as 50 students are reported to have been involved, but school officials believe those who directly participated have been identified.
“We’re still getting everything put down on paper,” said GHS principal Bob Bravo. “We will be pursuing some expulsions.”
All 12 students have been suspended for five school days, the longest period allowed under California Education Code.
There were no serious injuries from the fights, and no further arrests have been made. Five GHS students ranging from 14 to 17 were arrested Friday at school.
The students recommended for expulsion may have long histories of inappropriate behavior instead of committing one egregious act, Bravo explained.
GHS did not lockdown, but prevented classes from visiting the Special Education science fair and asked students to remain in their classrooms so police and school administrators could sort out the incident.
“Today’s been a lot quieter,” said vice–principal Greg Camacho–Light Monday, overlooking the sea of 2,400 GHS students during lunch.
Any remnant of Friday’s gang activity was undetectable, and students lunched together without incident, a more common scenario some GHS students explained.
“That’s just something that happened,” said junior Anna Dunning. “It doesn’t happen every day.” She and her friend Jenna Rossini explained that Friday’s fights were not an accurate depiction of what happens at GHS on a daily basis.
Neither student felt the GHS campus was unsafe or that the gang population was spiraling out of control.
“It’s only about 20 people altogether,” Dunning said, “I know which ones they are.”
