SLPS: Sumner guards used mace correctly to stop fight
Security guards appear to have used mace appropriately to stop a noon-time fight at Sumner High School, St. Louis Public School officials said this afternoon.
The fight involved eight to 12 students, not the three to four reported earlier, said district spokesman Patrick Wallace.
Yes, guards maced students, he said. But the guards are trained in the use of mace and followed district protocol and procedures, he said: At least three times they warned the students who were fighting to stop, and those who were gathered to disperse. “And when they wouldn’t stop fighting and they wouldn’t disperse, they used the mace on the students who were fighting,” he said. “And it did stop the fight.”
Wallace said there were 200 to 250 kids in the cafeteria when the incident occurred. Those who caught the overspray “would have been those who failed to disperse,” he said.
The district has identified some involved in the initial fight, Wallace said, and they will be punished to the maximum allowed for their offenses, up to and including expulsion.
“Those who caught the overspray “would have been those who failed to disperse,”…………CASE CLOSED.
‘Bout time.
The guards deserve a lot of credit for taking decisive action here. If students act like criminals in school they should be dealt with as criminals.
Must be a slow day in the news. Its only pepper spray, not like its something serious.
How come this doesn’t happen at CBC or Desmet?
Too bad these guards werent there at that homecoming to stop those guys from raping that girl. Im sure Sharpton or Jackson will be coming to town cuz some blacks got maced.
Action was appropriate! I suppose if the Officers had not maced, and physically attempted to break apart the youngsters, then there would have been more injuries to both.
Those who failed to disperse. Does that mean they were cheering the perps on?
Hooray for the guards. Everytime I hear law enforcement take control of these situations, I give them applause. These kids want to act like animals, then the should be treated as such. They were told to disperse and didn’t. My niece was on of the idiots that got maced. Not only is she in trouble at school, but her parents took her car keys and she is grounded until after the Christmas break. I bet the next time an adult at school tells her to do something, she will.
Those who failed to disperse.
Since there was an estimate of 250 kids in the cafeteria at the time the fight broke out, I’m just wondering how easy it would have been to get out? A stampede for the exits could have been n’er possible?