STOCKTON, Calif. — A student fight at Edison High School in Stockton left the school's principal with leg pain and the vice principal with bruised ribs and other injuries.
The fight was caught on camera by multiple students. The Stockton Unified School District responded after a video of the on-campus fight raised concerns on social media.
District spokesperson Melinda Meza said the video reflects a large fight that happened Tuesday around 12:20 p.m. between several students.
Various clips of the fight were passed around on social media, including a one-second clip re-tweeted by former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs, where he said Vice Principal and Stockton Vice Mayor Christina Fugazi showed "disgusting and appalling behavior" in a video that appeared to show her slapping a student.
In a statement provided by the district, Fugazi refuted claims that she tried to hit a student.
“We were deescalating a contentious situation by separating students and one student continued to be an aggressor and was asked to get away," she said. "He continued his forward motion and throwing punches. I put up my arm telling him to stop and to not allow the other student to get injured. I in no way tried to hit a student."
"I do not think he was intentionally trying to hit me however I could not allow another student to be injured. I care about the well-being and safety of all students,” Fugazi continued.
In a statement to ABC10, Meza said Fugazi got involved after she saw the large fight and approached two of the students who were fighting one-on-one in an effort to break them up.
In videos provided by a family member of a student and another student who wanted to remain anonymous, Fugazi is seen pulling "student 2" away only to have "student 1" approach and punch the second student in the face. After Fugazi pulled the "student 2" away again, Meza said Fugazi tried to block him after "student 1" charged them both while swinging his fist.
"Fugazi swung her arm backward to block student 1 from punching student 2 again or hitting her," Meza told ABC10. "Fugazi advised that her arm contacted student 1 while she was attempting to block him."
Fugazi tried to walk "student 1" away when she saw an officer struggling to keep the two students away from each other before one of them got away and charged toward her.
"Student 1 approached student 2 and punched him several times in the face, then punched Fugazi in the back of the head which later swelled into a lump," Meza said. "She believed she was punched unintentionally, due to her close proximity to student 2."
The student brawl continued into a nearby grassy area before one of the students was pulled away.
“We do everything in our power to keep students safe on campus. We try our best to deescalate any situations that interrupt a safe learning environment. Student safety remains our top priority,” SUSD Department of Public Safety Chief Richard Barries.
Meza said Edison Principal Chris Anderson had leg pain getting run over by someone and noted that a student spit blood on Anderson's shirt. Fugazi had injuries that included bruised ribs, swelling and bruising to her right hand and a lump on the back of her head.
Meza said the district's Department of Public Safety is investigating the incident.
Videos of the incident can be viewed below.
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