Chaos erupted at the Britton Middle School Home and School Club Carnival Friday night, as dozens of police officers from throughout the area responded to a violent incident that escalated within the crowd of hundreds.
By the end of the night, several officers had been assaulted by teen suspects, eight children were arrested and the carnival—which was scheduled to continue through Sunday evening—was shut down for the rest of the weekend. A total of 59 officers responded to the incident in order to help disperse the unruly swarm and calm what quickly became a “hostile environment” for police, according to a press release from the Morgan Hill Police department.
The incident started on Britton Middle School grounds, 80 W. Central Ave., at 5:48pm April 27, when school staff contacted two uniformed MHPD officers who were assigned to patrol the annual carnival, police said. The officers were told that a male juvenile on the carnival site—on the northern edge of downtown Morgan Hill—was in possession of a knife that another student had given him.
Police contacted the juvenile with the knife while he was in line for one of the carnival rides, authorities said. The child was arrested without incident.
Immediately after that arrest, school staff then told police the identity of the juvenile who had given the knife to the other suspect, police said. In addition to providing the knife, that student had also caused a disturbance on campus earlier in the day and was asked to leave.
When officers contacted the juvenile who provided the knife, he “responded in an aggressive manner, took a fighting stance and threatened officers with bodily harm,” the press release states. Additional officers responded and the second juvenile was taken into custody.
During the arrest, the suspect and two other juveniles attacked and assaulted MHPD officers, resulting in minor injuries to the officers, according to authorities. These additional two juveniles were also arrested.
The crowd surrounding the incident grew to about 200 people, “many confronting police and refusing to disperse,” police said. The incident started on the basketball courts adjacent to Keystone Avenue on the Britton campus, according to witnesses and a video shot by a carnival patron.
This growing hostility resulted in police response from multiple agencies, including Gilroy, San Jose, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, California Highway Patrol and CalFire, reads the press release.
Before police were able to disperse the crowd, four additional juveniles were arrested by MHPD and assisting agencies, bringing the total number to eight arrests. All eight juvenile suspects were booked at Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall on suspicion of multiple charges, including possession of a knife on school grounds; assault on an officer; felonious threats on officers; inciting a riot and resisting, delaying and obstructing an officer.
Police did not release the names of the arrested juveniles.
Throughout the incident, numerous suspects and others in the crowd displayed gang signs, shouted gang slogans and wore gang-related clothing, police said.
By about 7:30pm April 27, Morgan Hill Police were warning that anyone who remained in the area was subject to arrest, and used social media to ask parents to get their children home from the carnival as soon as they could.
MHPD and Morgan Hill Unified School District officials opted to shut down the carnival Friday night, and cancel the event’s remaining two days due to the violence.
On Saturday morning, crews were calmly breaking down the carnival rides and other equipment at the site of the fundraising event. Carnival organizers said that in more than 40 years of operating the annual event at various locations, this was the first time it had been shut down before scheduled.
