- WHAT: Patterson Unified School District Parent Forum
- WHERE: Apricot Valley Elementary School, 1320 Henley Parkway
Close to 350 students failed to show up to Patterson High School on Thursday, as students returned to class amid heightened security following a campus brawl Wednesday.
Police, who say the series of fights were gang-related, have arrested nine students so far, four on Wednesday and five on Thursday.
Police also confiscated three live shotgun shells found on campus Thursday. Stanislaus County Sheriff’s spokesman Royjindar Singh said deputies believe the shells were part of a prank.
Size of melee overstated
Fights broke out on the school’s South Seventh Street lawn Wednesday, after a student pulled a fire alarm during nutrition break. Four people were injured in the fight, including a teacher, Singh said.
Administrators had tried to quell the riot, but it wasn’t until police received backup that things calmed down. Teachers and students went back to classrooms for a three-hour lockdown as police searched for a girl who allegedly had a gun. No weapon was found.
Nearby Las Palmas Elementary School was also locked down for part of the day.
Detectives are investigating whether the fight is a response to the shooting of 18-year-old Patterson resident Emmanuel Moreno at a Crows Landing party on Aug. 11. Police and students say the fights were between members of the Norteños and a new gang called the Runners, named for Roadrunner Drive in the Heartland Ranch subdivision.
“We think that what went on yesterday is a community-wide issue,” said Patrick Sweeney, Patterson Unified School District’s superintendent of schools. “We are working with the police on it.”
Sweeney said folks reacted quickly to Wednesday’s fight, and he said students and staff exhibited patience during the lockdown.
Singh said deputies initially saw a “sea of fighting” when they arrived, and pegged it at 100 students in the fray. In actuality, he said, it was 12 to 15 kids.
“The people actually physically fighting these students were going to other areas and randomly punching other students,” Singh said.
District enhances security
Sweeney said the district will hire a campus officer and two additional campus supervisors to join the two already at Patterson High School. Video cameras also will be installed, and the high school’s nutrition break has been canceled for the rest of the year, though the school will have a longer lunch break.
Both Singh and Sweeney declined to say where on campus the live shotgun shells were found.
“We do believe it was a prank to scare school officials,” Singh said
Thursday’s heightened security included gang detectives and undercover police officers.
Officers said they did not find any weapons after searching the campus. The nine students who were all arrested were also suspended, which means they cannot come to school for five days. Those students will go before the school board at a later date for an expulsion hearing. If they are expelled, they cannot attend school in the Patterson Unified School District.
Singh said the sheriff’s department is adding more officers and undercover police.
Singh said one of the key things people can do to help is to report criminal activity.
“We need to start identifying these gang members, so we can build a case against them,” he said. “We want to try to get them on the right path and get a good life.”
“I feel the school is safe,” Singh said. “I believe this is an isolated incident. Most students are good students.”
Center for Human Services is providing counseling for both students and teachers at the high school.
Change in atmosphere
The high school’s 1,600-student enrollment was down by 350 kids Thursday compared to 100 absent students on a normal day.
Several students said Thursday that school was much calmer, though things still didn’t feel like normal, particularly with the number of absent students.
“It was a lot like Patterson before it got the grocery store,” said junior Amanda Ludwig, making reference to the size of the city before Save Mart Supermarkets opened in 2000.
Several students said they discussed Wednesday’s incident during their first period classes and talked about ways to prevent such an incident from happening again.
“There wasn’t a lot of teaching going on today,” junior Martin Moreno said. “People said they were scared. There were a lot of cops around, making sure everyone’s safe.”
Students said they were prohibited from gathering in large groups at lunch, but on the bright side there wasn’t a large lunch line.
Despite the added security, some students said they feared more troubles between rival gangs were still to come.
Still, PUSD board president Bruce Kelly said everything appeared to be going well when he was at the high school during the lunch hour Thursday.
“Students were having lunch, talking and having a normal day,” he said.
Varied perspectives
Parents and students had mixed reactions Thursday about whether to send their children to school.
Parent Tim Dwyer said he was impressed with how the school controlled the incident.
“They couldn’t have done a better job,” he said.
Parent Janine Goubert, whose children attended school Thursday, said her daughter was still nervous about attending.
“It just frustrates me,” Goubert said. “I remember when the town had 2,900 people, and we didn’t have problems like that. If there was a fight, they’d beat each other up with their fists and it was done. It was all under control yesterday till parents got hold of it. School and police were doing all they could.”
Kim Brown, whose children include a senior and two juniors at the school, picked her students up from school Wednesday and brought them in late on Thursday.
“Before we moved here 1½ years ago, we knew there were gangs,” Brown said. “It seems the school is not equipped to handle this. Next time something happens, (my children) have my permission to walk off campus.”
Carol Linton said she didn’t feel safe sending her daughter on Thursday and wasn’t sure when she would send her daughter back to school again.
Stephanie Paschal, a 17-year-old senior, said her mother also kept her out of school because of safety concerns.
“I just feel like our school can’t handle it if something happens again,” she said.
Parents will have an opportunity to voice their opinions during a school district parent forum Monday evening.
The 7 p.m. event will be at Apricot Valley Elementary School.
To reach Maddy Houk at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail her at
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Irrigator managing editor Jonathan Partridge contributed to this report.
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the other comment i have is that there is a root problem in all of this, and it has been this way for years, things are played down and kept quiet. there is a gang problem, a ma*sive drug problem and the until the "powers that be" acknowledge this to be the case, nothing will change. citizens....if you want to see a change, when you are going to the store, the park, soccer, whatever and you witness those drug deals on the side of the road, CALL THE COPS! if you have a house in your neighborhood that you are concerned about, TURN IT IN! and parents.....if your child is involved in gang activity and you condone it...you should be arrested. the gangs in this town is a generational problem. when you have moms and dads and grandmas buying gang colors for toddlers....that is a big problem. we need to pray to the Living God. He has the answer.