Dayton Public Schools increases security due to Monday after-school brawl
May 18—Dayton Public Schools will have extra personnel at both Dunbar and Thurgood Marshall high schools the rest of this week after a brawl involving about a dozen students happened Monday afternoon at Thurgood.
"We are taking measures to remove those involved," DPS Superintendent Elizabeth Lolli said. "This is, however, a community issue. Our communities need to step up and stop our youth from responding in these ways. This had nothing to do with school."
Lolli said the fight stemmed from an incident over the weekend, possibly at a party, that involved a Dunbar student and a Thurgood student. She said students from Dunbar showed up at Thurgood as school was letting out Monday.
Video reviewed by the Dayton Daily News showed multiple students tackling one another and throwing punches just outside the south side of the school, as a security guard and at least two other school employees tried to intervene.
One person was punched repeatedly as he lay on his back on the concrete sidewalk, before others pulled the attacker off. As the fight occurred around dismissal time, there were a few dozen other people loosely ringing the scene, some participating, some watching and some trying to break it up.
Lolli said DPS officials are not aware of anyone being hospitalized after the fight, and they referred questions about arrests to Dayton Police.
Riverside and Dayton Police have said in the past week that multiple recent violent crimes involving juveniles are linked. Dayton Police Lt. Col. Matt Carper called it "back-and-forth retaliation over a recent homicide."
Dayton Police have not commented on whether Monday's fight was linked to previous violence.
Lolli said DPS leadership has not sent any communication yet to parents, saying they still need more facts about the situation before they make a call. She said the district will make comments on the situation at Tuesday night's school board meeting.
"It is safe in DPS schools," Lolli said. "This issue was after school and caused by a weekend incident. We have extra adults available in the schools to monitor any unusual behaviors. We also have extra support at the end of the day for dismissals."
