Eighteen Annapolis High School students were arrested after four different fights broke out during the school day Wednesday and early Thursday.
Initial investigations revealed that students from different neighborhoods in Annapolis have a continuing dispute with one another, said Lt. David Waltemeyer, a spokesman for the Anne Arundel County police.
“What we are hearing is that these fights are stemming from incidents that are occurring outside the school, in the community,” he said.
Three juveniles were arrested by the school?s resource officer after the first fight erupted Wednesday at 7:30 a.m.
Then, at 11:30 a.m., three more students were arrested after a second fight broke out, Waltemeyer said.
At 12:46 p.m., another fight broke out in the hallway and another three students were arrested.
Waltemeyer said no one was seriously injured in the fistfights, and no weapons were used.
On Thursday morning, police sent five officers and a sergeant to the school for security. And at 7:20 a.m., another fight broke out in the school hallway, and nine more students were arrested. Two of the students were older than 18, Waltemeyer said. Police did not release the names of most of those arrested because of their ages. Waltemeyer said he did not have the names of the two adult students immediately available.
“It is uncommon to have these numbers of fights occur in consecutive events, especially with staffed officers there,” Waltemeyer said.
He said he was unsure what suddenly caused the tension between the groups to mount, but said that because it?s a new school year, many of the individuals had not seen each other all summer. None of the individuals arrested were at school Thursday, and Waltemeyer said he didn?t know if they had all been released totheir parents or if any were in custody.
The county police plan to provide five police officers and a sergeant at the school today and at a football game being played tonight against Gwynn Park High School.
Anne Arundel County school officials declined to answer any questions about the arrests. Spokesman Tony Ruffin referred all inquiries to a letter sent home to parents from Annapolis High School Principal Donald Lilley. The letter told parents that nine students had been arrested Wednesday, and another nine were arrested early Thursday morning.
The note emphasized that “no weapons were found on any student involved in these altercations,” and that classes continued as scheduled.
