Two high school teachers injured as staff tried to break up high school brawl in Sacramento
Two Hiram Johnson High School teachers were injured Thursday as school staff tried to stop a large brawl among students that required Sacramento police officers to help restore order on campus.
The morning brawl began with a fight involving a “number of students” at the high school, according to a written statement from the Sacramento City Unified School District. The school is at 6879 14th Ave. in Sacramento’s Tahoe Park East neighborhood just south of Highway 50.
District officials said the school staff was trying to break up the fight when other students began fighting one another. Two teachers suffered minor injuries as they tried “to help maintain safety on the campus,” according to the district.
The teachers’ injuries were not related to any fighting, district officials said in a clarifying statement Friday. The two teachers were examined by medics on campus as a precaution, and the teachers did not require any additional medical treatment, according to the school district.
Initial reports on Thursday from Sacramento City Unified indicated several high school staff members were injured and required medical treatment at a hospital. That initial report from the district was incorrect and was clarified with updated information from a post-incident report from the district’s school safety officer.
Shortly before 8 a.m., Johnson High staff called for police help with the reported student fights, said Officer Karl Chan, a Sacramento Police Department spokesman.
Officers arrived on campus and found that several fights had broken out and a staff member had been assaulted, Chan said. The staff member declined to seek prosecution, according to police.
While officers were still on campus, people involved in the struggle with students reported they had suffered minor injuries, Chan said. Officers helped school administrators by escorting students off campus.
Administrators placed the campus on a temporary lockdown. The precautionary and modified lockdown was necessary to ensure student and staff safety while order was restored on campus, school district officials said.
Because of the “severity of the fighting,” the school called for emergency responders, including Sacramento police officers, to help “restore safety” and treat injured school staff, according to the district’s statement.
The lockdown was lifted once the violence de-escalated and order was restored on campus. Students resumed their normal school schedule, district officials said.
Extra security and supervisory staff were on campus Thursday and will be at the high school Friday “to preserve a safe learning environment,” according to the district’s statement on the brawl. School counselors and the Hiram Johnson High Student Support Center are available for students in need of emotional support.
Officials said the high school, the school district and the Police Department were investigating the brawl. School district officials said students involved in fighting will face appropriate disciplinary action that follows district policy and California Education Code.
This story was originally published November 18, 2021 at 7:40 PM.
