Olympic High School student taken, discharged from hospital following Monday fight in alley behind Samohi
By Sam Catanzaro
A student was hospitalized following a fight near Santa Monica High School (Samohi) this week.
The incident took place Monday in the alley behind Santa Monica High School. According to Samohi principal Marae Cruce, the fight involved a victim who is a student at Olympic High School. Olympic is the continuation high school of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District and its students take certain classes on the Samohi campus. Several suspects hit and kicked the victim on the ground before the fight was broken up by a bystander.
According to the Santa Monica Police Department, the Santa Monica Fire Department provided medical treatment to the victim before transporting him to a local hospital for cuts and abrasions suffered in the fight. The student was later discharged from the hospital.
The suspects remain at-large.
In an email to parents, Cruce said that the suspects are not Samohi students.
“It is important to remember that we are in this together and need your support sharing with your student the importance of talking through conflicts. We have a process in place that encourages our students to use Restorative Practices to resolve conflicts amongst students and staff. Our school community is disappointed that a small group of our students have continued to embrace what they are seeing amongst adults on social media and in real-time,” Cruce wrote. “As we move forward please know that the Santa Monica Police Department and the Samohi administrative team are investigating this off-campus incident. It is also important that your students do not encourage, promote, record for fun or cheer on conflicts that occur during or after school, on campus or off campus. These are not laughing or celebratory events, and should not be encouraged at any time. Please remind them if they see something to inform a trusted adult, call 911, or anonymously report to www.WeTip.com.”
The fight comes a month after another student was hospitalized with slashing wounds in a scuffle that broke out during lunch break on the first day of school. The suspect in this case was later arrested by the SMPD.
