Black, Latino students square off at San Bernardino's Cajon High School
By Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell and James Rufus Koren, Staff writers
Posted: 04/15/2011 07:36:34 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO - Black and Latino students clashed Friday at Cajon High School.

Officials confirmed there was one incident during lunchtime, where one student was struck.

The unrest continued after school when 45 to 50 black and Latino students squared off, said Linda Bardere, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino City Unified School District.

No injuries were reported.

A student, who was not identified, was arrested on suspicion of civil disobedience. The student was cited and released to a guardian, authorities said.

After the first fight, campus security and district police stepped up their presence, and they quickly broke up the after-school melee, Bardere said.

Students gave conflicting reports of the lunchtime incident, some saying there was a fight and that students brought knives or guns to school, and others saying they saw heated arguments but no fights.

One student, wishing to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, said "a wall of people" attacked each other in the campus quad area just after noon.

"I was outside at lunch and all of a sudden, I saw a bunch of people running," she said. "The next thing I know, I look over and I see a wall of black people running towards me. On the opposite side, there were a bunch of (Latinos). And then I was swarmed."

The student said she wasn't hurt.

Two students, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said they saw no fighting at lunch but did see groups of black and Latino students arguing and "throwing up signs."

One student, a senior, said the groups scattered after a school security officer fired a pepper-ball gun in the air.

Pepper-ball guns fire nonlethal rounds filled with pepper spray.

Another student, a freshman, said the student who was arrested challenged a security officer to a fight after being hit with a pepper ball.

Six instigators of the fights will be disciplined on Monday, officials said. The school district did not release any further information on them because they are minors.

School board member Elsa Valdez said fights at district high schools are not unheard of but this incident was larger in nature.

"Any kind of fight, especially one with this many young people, is cause for concern," she said. "I'm sure we will address this because we take this kind of thing very seriously."

Staff Writer Jesse B. Gill contributed to this report.

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